A package of additional US sanctions on the “Skripals case” in three months could turn into a ban on oil and gas exports for Russia, according to Gazeta.Ru.According to the publication, the primary sanctions in the “Skripals case” were imposed in accordance with the 1977 International Emergence Economic Power Act (IEEPA) Act of 1977. According to the law, if within three months the government of a country that has come under sanctions has not stopped using chemical weapons, the US president is required to apply three of the six measures provided for in the corresponding package of secondary sanctions.“Therefore, Trump introduced a second package of sanctions. But in appearance they are very soft. The first package of the second stage, which entered into force on August 19, means a ban on Russia receiving assistance from the IMF and on transferring a number of technologies to our country. This is no longer news for Russia; such bans are already part of previously announced sanctions. Since August 26 of this year, the State Department has banned the purchase of a Russian government debt denominated in foreign currency, ”the article says.However, there are also sanctions in accordance with the law on emergency international economic powers, which include a ban on the purchase of a new Russian government debt and a ban on operations with the US dollar for Russian state banks (Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Russian Agricultural Bank, Promsvyazbank, VEB).“A ban on the purchase of a Russian government debt means a ban on transactions with new Russian government securities for a period of more than 14 days: any securities of the Central Bank, the National Wealth Fund, the Treasury, their agents or affiliates, as well as state banks. The US President has the right to determine which Russian debt is considered sovereign. So far, these sanctions have not been imposed. But after three months, Trump or Congress can remember them, ”the publication notes.According to the newspaper, Trump is unlikely to completely break off relations with Russia, and the choice of the remaining measures of influence is small: either stop importing or ban export.Russia supplies abroad 250 million tons of oil per year – and these figures have not changed after the imposition of sanctions. Therefore, the camp “can be hit at the most painful place” – on the export of oil and gas, since the USA itself does not depend on our supply of fuel abroad, the publication predicts.However, the newspaper notes that “the question remains open – will Europe support the US sanctions, since up to 40% of oil, gas and coal deliveries there are Russian.”Earlier, the head of the State Duma committee on the financial market, Anatoly Aksakov, told RIA Novosti that the second package of US sanctions due to the poisoning of Skripals is useless, as they will not affect Russia. At the same time, according to Viktor Zubarev, a member of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, the second package of sanctions will harm the United States itself.
