Western countries such as the United States are promoting the exclusion of Russian financial institutions from the SWIFT as a financial sanction for Russia, but major Russian banks involved in energy transactions are excluded from the sanctions. There is a possibility that it will be done. Banks owned by Russia's No. 1 bank "Sberbank" and state-owned gas company "Gazprom" are said to be excluded. The United States and Europe are in an "energy dilemma" while cutting the strongest financial sanctions cards. According to foreign media reports such as Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal on the 1st (local time), the draft "SWIFT sanctions" against Russia proposed by the European Union (EU) includes VTB Bank, Bankrosia, VEB, etc. Estimated to contain 7 lines. These media reported that "(for sanctions) Sberbank and Gazprombank are not in the draft." The United States and Europe agreed on the 26th of last month (local time) to exclude Russian banks from the SWIFT payment network, but decided to select sanctions instead of full implementation. There is. Under such circumstances, the seven banks considered by the EU were released on this day. Of course, the sanctions are in flux until the final announcement. However, with SWIFT headquarters in Belgium and under European jurisdiction, the EU draft can have a significant impact on the final draft. Not included in the draft sanctions, Sberbank holds about 30% of Russia's total banking assets and is Russia's largest financial institution with half of Russia's deposits. Gazprombank (GPB), an affiliate of the state-owned gas company Gazprom, is also mainly used by major Russian energy companies. The energy dilemma is the reason why the SWIFT sanctions, which are called "nuclear weapons of finance," are being reduced from all over to some, and some of them are being weakened, such as excluding the most important banks. Russia is the world's number one exporter of natural gas and the world's third largest oil producer. Europe, in particular, procures 40% of its natural gas from Russia. If the raw material settlement network with Russia is cut off by SWIFT sanctions, the European economy will inevitably be shocked. Similarly, the United States has to be nervous about rising raw material prices such as international crude oil prices due to SWIFT sanctions as high prices threaten the economy. As a result, foreign media have already indicated that "energy trading" will have to be an exception on the day the SWIFT sanctions are announced. "Western countries are reluctant to weaken their energy purchasing power from Russia," the Financial Times said yesterday (local time), "energy banks may allow them to remain in the (SWIFT) settlement network. ". The US and European energy dilemmas can also be seen in pre-SWIFT sanctions. The US Treasury's dollar trading and fund freeze measures for Russian banks announced last month (local time) also include energy and agricultural exceptions (General Licenses). "The exclusion of Sberbank and Gazprombank (from the EU draft) indicates concerns about the consequences of Russia's isolation of energy supply on the global economy," Bloomberg said today. “Energy sanctions on Russia could have the side effect of increasing inflation and could even inflict political fatalities on Western leaders,” Samsung Securities Co., Ltd.'s Global Investment Strategy Team leader Yoo Seung-min told the newspaper. Whether or not to include energy regulations in economic sanctions against Russia will continue to be an issue. " Reporter Jung Seulgi (Inquiries japan@hani.co.kr)
