Anti-Russia sanctions to weaken Europe

Last week many Western economists were opposite the introduction of sanctions by the EU in respect of Russia. According to them, the break up of trade relations with Russia will lead to significant losses of European companies, a serious fall in the EU economy and rise of its dependence on the USA and China.

In late July 2014 a number of Western analysts said the introduction of strict sanctions against Russia from the EU will have a negative impact on the European economy. According to the British newspaper «Guardian»,  Raiffeisen (Austria) that has an affiliate in Russia (in the top-20 Russian banks, as of July 1st – 13th by the assets and 11th by the volume of credit portfolio) and Sociеte Generale (France) that controls Rosbank OJSC (also in top-20, 12th by the assets and 13th by credit portfolio) are among the EU banks that are in the most risky situation. However, other financial organizations from Europe might suffer serious losses in the case if sanctions are applied as by the beginning of Q2 the total volume of issued by them loans in Russia made up about $155 bln. According to other assessments, the European banks might lose up to $187 bln due to the sanctions.