The Australian Government has imposed additional sanctions on Russian banks and government agencies. These banks control most of the country’s banking assets and their sovereign debt.
In the March 18 announcement by Foreign Minister Marize Payne, the Russian Federation Fund and the Ministry of Finance will be subject to sanctions, both of which will be responsible for issuing and managing the country’s sovereign debt.
The following banks Sberbank, Gazprombank, VEB, VTB, Rosselkhozbank, Sovcombank, Novikombank, Alfa-Bank, and Credit Bank of Moscow are all licensed and account for about 80% of Russia’s banking assets.
“The Australian government is deeply committed to imposing high costs on Russia,” Senator Payne said in a statement. “This includes listing individuals who are economically and strategically important to Russia who have endorsed and benefited from the Putin administration.”
“We also continue to increase sanctions pressure on the oligarchs near Vladimir Putin,” she said. “In addition to the 41 oligarchs and their close relatives that we have already imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans, Australia now has 2 billion billionaires, Oleg, related to Australia’s business interests. -Added Deripaska and Victor Wexelberg. “
Vekselberg owns a 16% stake in Falcon Oil and Gas through a subsidiary and is currently in a joint venture with Australian listed energy company Origin Energy to destroy the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin. increase.
Deripaska owns a 44% stake in the Russian aluminum company Rusal, but currently has a 20% stake in the Queensland Aluminum Limited refinery in Gladstone, Queensland.
The Australian Government is keeping pace with democracies in sanctioning Russian leaders, state-owned enterprises, and their troops. Currently, an estimated 460 sanctions are in place.
The Task Force, consisting of Australian, US, UK, Japanese and European officials, is currently examining information to identify individuals and assets that may be frozen or seized.
However, Honorary Law Professor Gabriel Moens has expressed concern about the lack of transparency of the democratic government in how to identify sanctions.
“Simply being an acquaintance of Vladimir Putin is neither a satisfying nor a sufficient reason to rob them of their property,” he wrote in The Epoch Times.
“This is because the act of seizures means they are guilty by the Union, even if they do nothing to promote or support the Kremlin’s devastating decision to invade Ukraine.
“In reality, there are oligarchs who are ready to oppose the aggression and use their resources to help the victims of Putin’s war of aggression,” he vowed to sell and donate the club to Chelsea football. He talked about the club owner, Roman Abramovich. Revenue for Ukraine’s war effort.
in the meantime, Millions of people participated U.S. politics criticized successive U.S. foreign policy experts and presidents for misunderstanding U.S.-Russia relations and oversimplifying the situation by blaming Putin for not considering Russia’s strategic interests. In the 2015 video of scholar John Joseph Mearsheimer.
“The enlargement of NATO was driven by men and women in the 21st century. They believe that” balance of power “politics is dead, that’s what happened here. [But] Putin is a 19th century man. He sees the world in terms of balance of power, “said Mearsheimer, citing Russia’s concerns that Westernized and militarized Ukraine poses a threat.
“We thought we could drive to his doorstep, but that doesn’t matter,” he said, and neutral Ukraine is ideal for creating a “buffer state between NATO and Russia.” He said it would have been the situation, but this was not the case, but instead gave the Ukrainians the false hope that it could fully join the West.
When Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 occurred, it surprised the establishment of Washington, DC’s foreign policy.
“What happened was that this great crisis broke out and we had to take responsibility. Of course, we didn’t mean to blame ourselves. We blamed the Russians. I was going to blame. So we invented this story that Russia succumbed to the invasion in Eastern Europe. “
In contrast, in the early days of the presidency, Putin Showed interest in participating in NATOHowever, it is unclear why this did not happen.
Meanwhile, Russia rejected reports of bombing a theater in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, where civilians had been evacuated.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to be trapped in basements without food, water or electricity.
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Daniel Y. Teng is based in Sydney. He focuses on national politics, including federal politics, COVID-19 response, and relations between Australia and China. Do you have a hint? Contact him at [email protected]