Canberra [Australia], March 8 (ANI): Australia has imposed another round of sanctions against Russia for its “unjustified invasion” of Ukraine and is targeting Moscow‘s senior military officers, as well as state propagandists spreading “pro-Kremlin disinformation”. As per an official statement by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, the Australian government is placing sanctions on Moscow‘s “propagandists and purveyors of disinformation” trying to legitimise Russia‘s invasion with false narratives such as the “de-Nazification” of Ukraine.
“The new round of sanctions will impose targeted financial sanctions on the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against an additional six senior Russian military commanders responsible for implementing naval, ground and air attacks on Ukraine,” said the statement.
“The Australian Government is sanctioning 10 people of strategic interest to Russia for their role in encouraging hostility towards Ukraine and promoting pro-Kremlin propaganda to legitimise Russia‘s invasion,” it added. Notably, last week, Australia also imposed targeted financial sanctions on 11 financial institutions of economic significance to Russia, including the Central Bank of Russia.
The statement further informed that the Australian government is working with digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google to take action to suspend the dissemination of content generated by Russian state media within Australia.
“Our designation of the Russian Armed Forces covers the Russian Ground Forces, Russian Navy, and Russian Aerospace Forces, as well as the Strategic Missile Troops and Russian Airborne Troops, and has the effect of prohibiting the export of goods from Australia to all Russian military end users,” said the statement.
The foreign minister said that Australia will work collectively with its global partners to remove Russia‘s ability to continue financing its war by targeting its most significant banks, including those critical to its defence sector. “Australia and partners will continue to impose costs on Russia‘s egregious, unlawful and completely unjustified war on Ukraine. We again call upon Russia to withdraw its military forces immediately from Ukraine,” said the minister.
Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine‘s breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics followed by the announcement of a “special military operation” to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine. Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia‘s military operations and imposed sanctions on Moscow. (ANI)
S Korea bans transactions with Russian Central Bank
Seoul [South Korea], March 8 (ANI/Global Economic): The Korean government has imposed additional sanctions against Russia, including suspension of transactions with the Russian central bank. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, “Following the sanctions against Russia taken effect since March 1, Korea has decided to join additional sanctions such as banning transactions with Russian central bank in consideration of the international community’s level of economic sanctions on Russia.”
The Korean government has previously banned transactions with seven Russian major banks such as Sberbank as a part of sanctions against Russia following Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry said, “We will announce the details related to additional sanctions against Russia after discussing with related ministries.” The ministry is also planning to inform the decision to related countries, including the US. (ANI/Global Economic)
Korea Exchange announces suspension of Russian ETF trading
Seoul [South Korea], March 8 (ANI/Global Economic): Trading of ‘KINDEX Russia MSCIETF,’ the only Russian Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) listed in Korean Exchange will be suspended. This is because although prices continue to decline as the valuation will be adjusted at zero from March 10, the retail investors have continued to purchase the Russian ETF. The Korea Exchange announced on the 4th that it will suspend trading of the KINDEX Russia MSCIETF. The KINDEX Russia MSCIETF is the only Russian ETF operated by Korea Investment Management and follows Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index.
An official from the Korea Exchange said, “The ETF was previously scheduled to be suspended for trading as the high gap rate (difference between index and market prices) continued for three consecutive trading days. Considering the investor protection and current market situation, the Korea Exchange has decided to suspend trading of this ETF earlier.”
On March 4, the price of KINDEX Russia MSCIETF decreased 29.97 per cent as soon as the market was open and closed at the lower limit. An official from the financial industry said, “This is very unusual that the opening price of ETFs hit the lowest and closed at the same price.”
Korea Investment Management, which operates the Russian ETF, issued an official announcement and said, “We have agreed to completely exclude Russia from the MSCI index and calculate the valuation at 0 won after March 9.” It added, “In this situation, it is expected that the asset value will significantly decrease.”
However, a total of 120,000 shares of trading occurred this day. Among them, some bold retail investors newly purchased 10,534 shares worth 160 million won. Those were the shares mainly sold by institutional investors. Institutional investors net sold a total of 10,986 shares on this day. Regarding this situation, experts said the investment in the Russian ETF is ‘high-risk betting,’ and recommended to sell. (ANI/Global Economic)
Japan foreign ministry unveils details of sanctions package against Russia, Belarus
Tokyo [Japan], March 8 (ANI/Sputnik): The Japanese Foreign Ministry unveiled the details of the third sanctions package against Russia and Belarus in connection with the situation in Ukraine: personal sanctions were imposed against another 20 Russians and 12 Belarusian citizens, as well as against two more Russian and 12 Belarusian organizations.
In addition, an export ban was introduced for the Belarusian Defense Ministry, including the Armed Forces, as well as law enforcement agencies and intelligence organizations.
The personal sanctions were in particular imposed on Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, businessmen Boris Rotenberg and Alisher Usmanov and others.
Japan also imposed a ban on the export of oil refining equipment to Russia, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. (ANI/Sputnik)
