Russian retailers warned of price increase after rouble tumbles

That’s where the US said planes had taken off before carrying out a chemical weapons attack on civilians in a nearby town, Khan Shaykhun.

The US draft condemned the suspected attack by the Assad regime in Douma, demanded immediate access for humanitarian workers to the region and called for an inquiry. Forbes magazine’s Russian edition estimated that Russian billionaires lost a total of $12 billion on Monday alone.

The company has seen its share price tumble and deals come under review because the sanctions cut it off from the US financial system.

“The Syrians promised to create all the necessary conditions for the experts’ work while we promised to take care of the experts’ security”, he added.

He added on a combative note that the situation offers a “good chance to test them in conditions of real combat”. “We have not received a response yet”, Lavrov said. He said he was referring to a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian armed forces chief of staff.

The ruble dropped 3.51% worse than 60 per dollar at 8:17 a.m. ET, making for its biggest decline since November 2016. Meanwhile, the euro rate is 79,9 rubles (last time euro was at this price in March of 2016).

The sanctions mean Russian companies face the prospect of losing access to the US market, which accounted for around 14 percent of Rusal’s revenue a year ago, according to analysts at Promsvyazbank. On Tuesday, the London Metal Exchange said it would no longer facilitate trade in Rusal products.

Russian markets have been spooked not only by the impact on sanctioned companies such as aluminum producer Rusal, but also by the prospect of further sanctions.

“The sender countries will target the most vulnerable parts of the Russian economy, society and political system”.

The combined net worth of the country’s wealthiest people fell by $16 billion Monday – erasing all of their year-to-year gains – following last week’s US -imposed sanctions.

Consequently, expectations (heard constantly since sanctions were imposed first in April 2014 over Crimea) of sanctions being eased back by the US or the European Union have proven wrong, and sanctions are if anything being tightened. “It’s prepared the economy much better for any other external shocks which might arrive”.

Apart from the latest round of USA punitive measures, the Russian market continued to be under additional pressure from a proposal of United States congressmen to impose more sanctions over Russia’s alleged, but unproven involvement in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain.

There was also a place on the list for Kirill Shamalov, who is reportedly Putin’s son-in-law, married to his daughter Katerina Tikhonova — although neither Putin nor the Kremlin has acknowledged that she is his daughter.

Know-y0ur-customer is now uber-important – and the question is can foreign investors really know their Russian oligarchs well enough to assume that they will not be on future U.S. Treasury sanctions designations, given the actions from April 6?

The former U.S. Ambassador to Syria, Ryan Crocker, says that the U.S.is obligated to strike Syria again.