The Moscow Stock Exchange suspends trading in dollars and euro the day after the introduction of new sanctions by the United States, measures to block the flow of capital in the sectors of sovereign debt, large public conglomerates and major defense companies. Vladimir Putin had just recently launched measures to attract investments, through the stock market, from Russians and non-Russians residing in “friendly countries”. Today, the day the new sanctions came into force, the Moscow Stock Exchange lost 3.5-4 percent and the Moscow Stock Exchange company 15.
“Following the introduction of restrictive measures in the United States against the Moscow Stock Exchange Group, from today transactions on the markets of the Moscow Stock Exchange will be carried out…with the exception of instruments with contracts in dollars and euros. Opposite to new challenges, the Moscow Stock Exchange will continue to ensure clients have access to all segments of the trading platform”, reads a Moex statement.
Affected by the new US restrictive measures are both the Moscow Stock Exchange and the National Clearing Center which operates as an intermediary in transactions with foreign stock exchanges on the Moscow Stock Exchange, as well as 300 other entities, including in countries such as China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Russians, individuals and companies, will be able to continue to buy and sell euros and dollars through intermediaries (Russian banks) and the Russian Central Bank has guaranteed that all foreign currency deposits will not be affected.
Meanwhile, after the US sanctions, here are also the British ones. The UK has imposed a new package against 42 Russian entities including the Moscow Stock Exchange, the National Clearing Center and the National Settlement Depository. London’s goal is also to weaken the Russian financial system and those providing military support to the Russian armed forces engaged in Ukraine.
These new sanctions also target suppliers of ammunition, machine tools, microelectronics and logistics to the Russian military, including entities based in China, Israel, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, along with ships transporting military goods from North Korea to Russia.
