THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RESULTS OF MARCH 2014

In March 2014 Russia announced the accession of Crimea based on the results of the referendum held on 16 March 2014. In response the U.S. and EU introduced visa sanctions and a ban on the possession of assets in their jurisdictions for Russian officials (and in the U.S. this also extended to certain businessmen close to Vladimir Putin). The G8 forum ceased to exist and, effectively, Russia, on the one hand, and the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia, on the other, returned to the situation before 1991 when they considered each other as major opponents. For Russia this may result in a considerable decrease in investment, the withdrawal of capital and an economic decline, even despite the fact that, in the short term, these countries will be unable to replace the Russian hydrocarbon exports and this will cause substantial economic damage. The Russian Parliament introduced a bill to confer citizenship on all descendants of residents of the Russian Empire who are “native speakers of the Russian language” and to cancel mayoral elections in the largest cities, however, consideration of these laws has not been accelerated and they will most probably be amended.