EU - Anti-Russian Sanctions expanded

EU SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA

• Asset freezes on companies and 'other entities'.
• Names of first round of blacklisted companies not decided as yet.
• Shall be by end of month.
• European Investment Bank will be directed to suspend signing of new financing agreements in Russia.
• Called on shareholders at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to do the same.
• Called partial suspension of European Commission programs.

"I wouldn't say I'm very afraid of retaliatory measures [by Russia]," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 

"We cannot take measures and not expect people to retaliate, that is part of the approach."

[SOURCE - Wall Street Journal - here.]

SEE ALSO:

EU Press Release 16/07/2014 - (PDF) - here.

Bloomberg - Anti-Russian Sanctions Overview

Bloomberg Businessweek Article

As Ukraine Heats Up, Exxon to Airbus Eye Growing Risks

By Matthew Campbell July 16, 2014 

As the U.S. and Europe escalate sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis, companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM:US), Airbus Group NV (AIR) and Daimler AG (DAI) are facing a threat to their multibillion-dollar businesses in the country. 

“We have enjoyed good relationships with Russian partners,” Airbus Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders said on the sidelines of the Farnborough Air Show near London. “I would only express my hope that these relationships and partnerships will survive the current political tensions.” 

In contrast to sanctions targets Iran and North Korea, Russia’s $2 trillion economy -- about the size of Italy’s -- is closely linked to global business as multinationals have piled into a promising consumer market and resource producer. That highlights the difficulty the U.S. and Europe face in trying to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
 ...
The action blocks the assets of eight state-owned defense firms, including weapons-maker Kalashnikov Concern, which manufactures its namesake assault rifle. The penalties will prohibit any new financing of debt with a maturity of more than 90 days from U.S. sources.

EU Measures

European Union leaders are considering measures that would cut off some public financing of infrastructure projects in the country. Sanctions so far have primarily focused on asset freezes and visa bans for small numbers of political and military figures close to Putin. 

... [CORPORATE INTERESTS ...]

Exxon has bet heavily on its relationship with Rosneft, the state energy producer that’s led by Putin confidant -- and U.S. sanctions target -- Igor Sechin. Next month Exxon expects to begin drilling an Arctic well with Rosneft that will cost as much as $700 million, the most expensive such project ever in Russia. It’s also working on a $300 million shale well project in Siberia.

In a sign of the importance of its Rosneft ties, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson rebuffed U.S. government appeals to skip an energy forum in Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg in May, and appeared with Sechin in Moscow last month. An Exxon spokesman said the company’s Russia plans remain unchanged.
Providers of oilfield services have found a juicy potential market in Russia, which needs the latest technology to maintain production from declining Cold War-era fields.

U.S. energy service providers Halliburton Co. ... Schlumberger Ltd. ...and National Oilwell Varco Inc. ... all have significant operations in Russia. 

...Halliburton has worked closely with Gazprom ... Houston-based company, which signed a technology-sharing accord with Gazprom’s oil arm last year, “is certainly trying to make a bigger play” in Russia ...  Halliburton and Varco declined to comment. 

At Canadian airplane manufacturer Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B), “there’s been a little bit more apprehension from our Russian customers to get into big transactions, not just with us,” said Guy Hachey, president of the company’s aerospace business. Along with Airbus, Bombardier has sought to build manufacturing capacity in Russia to meet demand from local airlines.  
...

[Russia's] ... finance ministry predicts economic growth will drop to about 0.5 percent this year ... measures would pile onto existing concerns about corruption, shoddy infrastructure, and stagnant population growth. 

... automaker Daimler AG has backed away from increasing its stake in OAO KamAZ, Russia’s largest producer of heavy trucks. ...

Automakers that are strengthening their ties to Russia ...Renault SA (RNO) and Nissan Motor Co. ... last month completed a 2012 plan to tighten control of OAO AvtoVAZ, Russia’s biggest carmaker. Renault and Nissan, which gained majority control of AvtoVAZ, once described the deal as a critical bridgehead into a key emerging market. Yet when the transaction was sealed June 18, the companies didn’t even put out a press release. Renault and Nissan declined to comment. 

EXTRACTS
FULL ARTICLE - SOURCE - Bloomberg Businessweek - here.
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COMMENT

Obviously a lot of foreign investment in Russia.
Don't know what to make of it other than that.

Joe Biden weighs in on Anti-Russian Sanctions

'Live Mint & The Wall Street Journal' Article

First Published: Wed, Jul 16 2014. 09 38 AM IST

 ...

US vice president Joe Biden told Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday that the US was working with European allies on the issue amid what they cited as further acts of escalation from Russia. “The leaders discussed Russia’s ongoing support for the separatists and apparent escalation of the conflict over the last few days,” the White House said in a statement about the call between the two men. “The vice president told President Poroshenko that the US was engaging with European leaders to discuss the imposition of costs on Russia for its continued escalation of the conflict,” it said. Reuters

Read more at: Live Mint & The Wall Street Journal - here.

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COMMENT

Statement from Washington between Biden & Ukraine Chocky King is some White House spin, blaming Russia for this and that ... and echoing the constant 'sanctions' must be imposed position, so it comes across to readers that the sanctions are well deserved.  LOL.

That's how I see it, anyway.

What was it that they say about often repeated statements?

Obama the 'bad boyfriend' finally calls Merkel after US double-agent spy sprung

Free Malaysia Today Article

Obama speaks with Merkel after spy row

July 16, 2014

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama yesterday spoke to Chancellor Angela Merkel for the first time since a row over US spying prompted Germany to turf out the CIA station chief in Berlin. [LOL]
 
The White House gave away little of the conversation about the latest espionage scandal to rock the crucial relationship between the US president and Europe’s most powerful leader.

A statement said that Obama and Merkel “exchanged views on US -German intelligence cooperation, and the President said he’d remain in close communication on ways to improve cooperation going forward.”

Obama and Merkel have forged a firm working relationship, but successive revelations about US spying and surveillance have strained US-German ties and put the German leader under intense political pressure at home.

The call came on the eve of a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels which will consider toughening sanctions on Russia over what the West sees as destabilizing behavior in Ukraine.

The statement said neither leader had seen Russia take steps to stem the flow of weapons across the border of eastern Ukraine, or steps by Moscow to de-escalate the situation or to persuade separatists to lay down their arms.

Washington signaled on Tuesday that it would consider going ahead with its own new measures against Moscow should Europe remain reluctant to move forward. [OF COURSE ... PROTECT THE $]

A source in Brussels told AFP meanwhile that it was possible that the EU could decide to toughen measures against Moscow on Wednesday.

... 
EXTACT ONLY
SOURCE - Free Malaysia Today - here.

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COMMENT 

Wonder if anyone's recorded the conversation.  LOL.
Good on Germany for turfing CIA chief.
What a cheek.  LOL.

SHALE REVOLUTION - FRACKING - US Winning Hand in Geopolitical Long Game

[From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article - here]

The geopolitical consequences of the shale revolution transcend periodic, regionally specific crises such as Ukraine or Iran (where U.S. sanctions have been able to bite exactly because of growing North American oil and gas supplies entering world markets).

Aside from physical exports, U.S. shale expertise may well help Europe diversify its energy sources away from Russia, too. There’s talk of exploiting significant shale basins in Britain, France, Germany, Poland and, yes, Ukraine. According to NATO Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen, Russian intelligence has sought ways to co-opt European environmental NGOs that oppose hydraulic fracturing.

Ever since the early 1970s, the dominant motif has posited “energy needs” with “energy vulnerability,” as the United States became the major global oil importer. This vulnerability has rested heavily on our thinking about security, itself a legacy of oil embargoes from that era. Today, the shale revolution is changing that calculus.

New trends, such as the revival of energy-intensive U.S. industries and a distinct improvement in our terms of trade, reflect the still-surprising energy abundance accelerating since 2005. Future natural gas exports and high-value North American shale expertise will play an ever larger part of the geopolitical long game. This new game has only started and, for a change, we seem to have a winning hand.

James Clad, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia, consults for energy and investment firms and is senior adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses and at Jane’s Defence and Cambridge Energy Research Associates.


FULL - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - here.

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COMMENT

It's cute when he gets all coy with the "... and, yes, Ukraine".
That's how I picture it.  LOL.

If I'm reading that right, Russia stands accused of co-opting European tree-huggers?
Take it that's what the NGO's are.

That's hilarious.
Were it a fact, isn't that like a counter 'colour revolution' type of thingy?

Again, I'm new to this so please bear with me if my grasp isn't all it should be.

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Scan of wiki re NGOs ...
Putin doesn't sound too keen on NGOs:

"Another criticism of NGOs is that they are being designed and used as extensions of the normal foreign-policy instruments of certain Western countries and groups of countries.  

 Russian President Vladimir Putin made this accusation at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy in 2007, concluding that these NGOs "are formally independent but they are purposefully financed and therefore under control. [wikipedia]"

US is all for dialogue - Who drank the Kool-Aid?

NET Nebraska [PBS & NPR]

Why has Russia toned down its rhetoric on Ukraine?
July 9, 2014 - 5:48pm

[SKIPPING THE BLURB]

MARGARET WARNER: 
...

Meanwhile, the U.S. is saying the only answer is through this dialogue. And as you may recall, there’s been this ongoing attempt by the Europeans and Americans to get a dialogue going. The separatists however are saying, well, yes, we’re interested in a dialogue, but only if it’s here in Donetsk or Belarus or Russia. So, in other words — and Putin is not pushing them to really make — get serious about the dialogue. [LOL...intent on dialogue?  But not in Donetsk etc... too funny!]

[...]

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, speaking of sanctions, just very quickly, you mentioned that. What’s — back here, Capitol Hill, there are still members of Congress calling for that. Where does that stand?

MARGARET WARNER: Well, not very far, Judy, so far.

Today, the E.U. slapped sanctions on 11 individuals. But those are just pinpricks. What the U.S. wants is broad sanctions against certain sectors, finance, high-tech, defense. But they want to wait for the Europeans. The big meeting is next week of the European Council July 16. Questions are two.
One, will the Europeans go for it? They will pay a higher economic price, as you know, than the U.S. And, two, if they don’t, would President Obama go it alone?

JUDY WOODRUFF: And watching them act together is I think what people expect.

MARGARET WARNER: Oh, they want.

But if they don’t, you could hear the pressure on Capitol Hill today, with Senator Corker saying, we look like a paper tiger. This administration looks like — threatens and threatens and doesn’t do anything.

So, I think next week, we will see if the president is prepared to act alone if he has to. [We already know he is, Margaret.]

JUDY WOODRUFF: Margaret Warner on the story, thank you

FULL article - here.
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COMMENT

Kool-Aid is the official soft drink of Nebraska -- & that's no bull either.  :)

US Senators baying for more sanctions - Nuland says "very soon"

July 9, 2014, 11:37 AM
Senators press for more sanctions on Russia


WASHINGTON -- Democratic and Republican senators exasperated with the Obama administration's response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine threatened on Wednesday to act unilaterally on new sanctions.

"What are we waiting for?" Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked twice at a hearing with senior administration officials from State, Treasury and the Defense departments about targeted sanctions that the administration said it was preparing last month.

Lawmakers ticked off a list of examples of Russia's pattern of escalating the nearly three month crisis and then pulling back, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the U.S. and European allies look foolish. More than 400 people have died and thousands have fled their homes in Ukraine as fighting continues between government forces and pro-Russia separatists.
...
Victoria Nuland, the assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, defended the administration's policies, saying the United States is ready to impose new sanctions "very soon." She stressed that it would be more effective for the United States to work together with Europe on such steps and the U.S. continues to consult with its allies. However, she said Obama has made clear that if necessary, the U.S. would act alone.
...

FULL article CBS News - here.
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COMMENT
There are sanctions in place. 
Sanctions have even been crippling French bank, BNP Paribas (so they're far reaching & punative), with fines into the billions.
It has been said that the unprecedented fines are the result of US seeking to punish France for the recent Mistral deal to Russia.


The Ukraine deaths are the result of Ukraine fraternal or civil war & the US-backed Ukraine government holds the 'big guns' (air attacks etc).

Russia has not set foot in the Ukraine, as far as poster is aware.

Assume the:

"if necessary, the U.S. would act alone",

conveyed by Nuland, would indicate the US will impose further sanctions (rather than military action) on Russia with or without EU support.

There's the beauty of wider alliances (and extra-national organisations such as EU)...there's always a swap of 'good cop' and 'bad cop' roles that's advantageous in dealings.

Poster is guessing the urgency is the coming winter in Europe.
Russia's Europe's supplier of gas.