Finnish experts and politicians are divided over the impact of the latest EU sanctions against Russian individuals and firms.
A new list of Russians subject to European Union sanctions over the Ukrainian crisis includes Arkady Rotenberg, co-owner of the Helsinki Arena and the Jokerit ice hockey team. His brother and business partner Boris Rotenberg holds dual Finnish-Russian citizenship. Both are members of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. They have been subject to US sanctions since March.
The list, published late Wednesday, includes eight individuals and three companies which the EU links to threats on Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
The EU list now includes 95 people and 23 companies and organisations, whose funds have been frozen or who are subject to travel bans.
“It’s not our choice, this confrontation with the west, including the EU,” Vladimir Chizhov, the Russian ambassador to the EU, told Euronews.
“The sanctions which the EU is envisaging against Russia will backfire, not because of counter-measures that Russia might impose but the EU’s business community and the EU’s economy will suffer,” he predicted.
Read the whole story here: http://yle.fi/uutiset/eu_sanctions_target_helsinki_businessman/7385166
Source: YLE