MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) – Recently introduced western sanctions against Russia are to give the country a chance of becoming a power of an absolutely new level, although this is going to be a difficult path, Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Aleksander Tkachev said Thursday.
Tkachev, who was slapped with the EU sanctions on July 26, said the new round of penalties could halt the Russian economic growth. “Our ‘friends’ in the West, European Union and the United States expect that these sanctions may economically undermine the power of this country and break down our statesmanship and independence,” he said.
The governor said “certain conclusions” should be made following the sanctions move: “We cannot stop the development of this country and for us this is a chance to launch many processes, many industries which could make us more independent from foreign markets.”
“This is a possibility to become a power of a completely new level with self-reliant economy, to become independent and develop new markets, not only the oil sector but also small and medium business,” the governor said.
Before becoming a new-level power, Russia needs to go through a “difficult path, most likely, a decade-long path.” Seeking to achieve this goal, Russia has to rely only on itself.
Earlier on Thursday, the European Union officially barred Russia’s biggest state-run banks — Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Vnesheconombank and Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) — from raising financing on western capital markets.
The move follows a measure by the United States that unveiled new economic penalties for Russia on July 29, targeting three major banks — VTB Group, Bank of Moscow and Rosselkhozbank.
