Deripaska called an important mistake of the owners of the “sanctions wunderwaffe”

RUSSIA has withstood the pressure of Western sanctions and survived the attempt to isolate it, the businessman believes. He also called sanctions a tool of the 19th century that does not show effectiveness Oleg Deripaska

The sanctions that the West imposed on Russia because of the military operation in Ukraine are a tool of the 19th century and do not show effectiveness, Russian businessman, founder of Rusal Oleg Deripaska said in an interview with the Financial Times ( FORBES estimates his fortune at $2.5 billion) .

“I always had my doubts about the sanctions, as the Germans called them, the wunderwaffe [miracle weapon] that turns the financial system into a kind of negotiating tool,” he said.

The entrepreneur believes that Russia has withstood the pressure of Western sanctions and survived attempts to isolate it, developing ties with the global South and increasing investment in the domestic market. He noted that the Russian private sector, in his assessment, turned out to be flexible and also found a way to work successfully.

Deripaska also said his trips to Asia had convinced him that countries in the global South would resist pressure to join Western sanctions. “You know, these people have 1 billion people to feed every day, and you're asking them to either commit or suffer,” the businessman said.

According to him, the West made a serious mistake in thinking that it could use the sanctions mechanism “to put pressure on autocratic regimes.” The entrepreneur did not specify which countries he had in mind.

Deripaska came under US sanctions in 2018. He tried to challenge Washington's decision through the COURT , but his claim was rejected. Deripaska, along with other major Russian entrepreneurs, came under EU sanctions in the spring of 2022, after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The UK introduced similar measures against the businessman .

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Russian authorities have repeatedly called Western sanctions illegitimate. In September, President Vladimir Putin said Russia's economic recovery after sanctions was complete. According to him, the country withstood the “sanctions onslaught” of unfriendly countries, and GDP reached the pre-sanction level of 2021.

The President indicated that back in April, economic growth for this year was expected to be 1.2%. “But in fact, we have already exceeded this bar, and by the end of the year, GDP growth may reach the level of 2.5%, or even, perhaps, more - 2.8%,” Putin said, calling the economic situation “stable and balanced.” .

In 2022, the Russian economy shrank, according to Rosstat, by 2.1%. At the end of 2023,  the Ministry of Finance forecasts growth of 2.5%. The International Monetary Fund expects Russia's GDP to grow by 1.5% this year, the FT notes.