MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) — The EU economic sanctions imposed against Russia over Moscow's alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis will have a moderate impact on the bloc's economy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday citing a document by the European Commission, which the newspaper has at its disposal.
According to the document, the hit to the EU economy "is expected to remain contained," as in 2014 and 2015 the EU-imposed sanctions will cause the bloc's economic growth to decrease by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points.
The European Commission also estimates that the sanctions will cause Russia's economic growth to decline by 0.6 percentage points in 2014 and by 1.1 percentage points in 2015.
"Their [the sanctions'] impact is being progressively felt and will increase <…> in the course of 2015," the document said as quoted by the Wall Street Journal, adding, however, that it is difficult to assess whether this slowdown is being caused primarily by the sanctions or by a slump in oil prices.
The European Union has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia over its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, a claim Moscow has repeatedly denied.
The latest round of sanctions came into effect on September 12, targeting Russian defense companies, alongside the country's largest banks, energy companies and certain high profile individuals.
On Tuesday the permanent representatives of the European Union decided to maintain the bloc's sanctions against Moscow.
Senior officials from several EU countries, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia have repeatedly voiced concern that the EU economic restrictions may have a serious negative impact on the EU economy.
