“Nine packages of sanctions and less than zero impact!” The politician wrote on his Twitter (blocked in the Russian Federation).
He referred to a table of trade indicators between the Russian Federation and the EU from February to August 2022, published by the Politico newspaper. It follows that, compared to the same period in 2021, Russia increased its trade turnover with all EU countries, with the exception of Denmark, Finland and the three Baltic republics. Verhofstadt emphasized that “the image speaks for itself,” reports TASS.
Earlier, Thorbjørn Becker, director of the Eastern European Institute at the Stockholm School of Economics, explained how the Russian economy managed to cope with sanctions. He mentioned three reasons for sustainability: high income from the sale of energy resources; the actions of the Russian Central Bank, which quickly coped with the problems, as well as the experience of previous crises.
