The US Treasury recommends against imposing sanctions against Russian government debt

The report of the US Department of the Treasury on a possible ban on investments in Russian government debt says that the imposition of such sanctions could destabilize global financial markets and generally have a negative effect on international business. The document was at the disposal of Bloomberg, the original can be read here .

• It follows from the document that sanctions against the Russian state debt and OFZ will increase pressure on the Russian economy and increase the burden on the banking sector, which will lead to "Russia's retaliatory measures against the United States."

• “Given the size of the Russian economy and its relationship to and impact on global markets, the extent of the impact of the expansion of sanctions on sovereign debt and derivatives is unclear, and the impact could be felt by both Russian and US investors,” the report says.

• Russian companies from the real and financial sectors are closely connected with global business processes and large investors, so the effect of the expansion of sanctions “will not be limited to the consequences for the Russian authorities and business” and, as a result, may reduce the competitiveness of large US management companies. The expansion of sanctions without support from the EU and other American partners could destroy the "unity" in the sanctions policy towards Russia, the authors of the document summarize.
• The report was prepared as part of the Russia Sanctions Expansion Act ( CAATSA ), which Donald Trump signed into law last August. The report on the consequences of possible restrictions on the Russian public debt was submitted to the US Congress on Monday, January 29, but its content has not yet been reported.
• At the end of January, also within the framework of CAATSA, the US Treasury published a “Kremlin report”, which included 210 people - all the billionaires of the Russian Forbes list, members of the government and employees of the Presidential Administration. The report looks formal, the Russian market ignored it, but US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has already said that all the most important was in the closed parts of the report and that new sanctions cannot be avoided. Who exactly will be on the sanctions lists is still unclear.
• Russian businessmen, whose names appeared in the open part of the “Kremlin report”, are also sure that this is “not the end yet” and are preparing for new sanctions. The Bell spoke to them immediately after the publication of the open part of the report.
• One of the consultants to the US authorities, when compiling the “Kremlin report”, later stated that the open part of the list was changed at the last moment at the request of an unnamed high-ranking official.

What do I get from this?

To everyone who was worried about how the new US sanctions would affect the ruble, while you can exhale.

Artem Gubenko, The Bell