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Surging Costs, Supply Havoc Plague UK Firms as Russian Sanctions Backfire, Insurance Buyer Reveals

© AFP 2023 / TOLGA AKMENA customer carries their shopping in a basket at a Sainsbury's supermarket in Walthamstow, east London on February 13, 2022.
A customer carries their shopping in a basket at a Sainsbury's supermarket in Walthamstow, east London on February 13, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 15.08.2022
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Sweeping self-harming western sanctions that followed the launch of Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine in February might have been designed to bring Russia’s economy to its knees but instead have fueled rocketing energy prices and whipped up nearly two-digit inflation across Europe.
The UK, which has been in the vanguard of anti-Russia sanctions since Moscow launched its special military operation in Ukraine, is increasingly feeling the blowback from the self-harming measures.
As households across the country feel the pinch of the worsening cost of living crisis, close to two-thirds of UK firms have also been left reeling from the impact of the sanctions regime, new figures show.
A massive 71 percent of British businesses have had their assets directly affected by the restrictive measures, according to a survey by insurance buyer Mactavish, cited by the Daily Mail.
Rises in costs and disruption to production lines were revealed to be plaguing almost half of these firms. Another 44 percent bemoaned lost suppliers, and 42 percent admitted facing workforce challenges.
Companies in the finance sector were revealed to have fared the worst in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. Data showed that sanctions had left 92 percent of such businesses suffering because of assets and funds located in Russia.
In the aviation industry, some 84 percent of companies reported hard-hitting losses as their leased aircraft remained in Russia. As part of the sanctions campaign, the European Union, US, Canada and the UK had ordered aircraft lessors to curtail their lease agreements with Russian carriers by “force majeure”.
In response, Russia adopted a Bill on 14 March enabling Russian airlines to re-register hundreds of airlines to fly within the country’s borders, along domestic routes.
Mactavish founder and chief executive Bruce Hepburn said that first the COVID-19 pandemic and then the Ukraine crisis “exposed the severe limitations in the industry, characterized by more cover restriction, less capacity, higher prices and more disputes.”
The new data from the UK insurance buyer only feeds into the increasingly mounting proof that western sanctions against Russia are ill-conceived and counterproductive.
World energy prices have been rocketing and inflation is hitting ever-new highs. Furthermore, derailed crop production in Ukraine and disrupted supply chains of various types of staple foods and fertilizer from Russia - one of the biggest global suppliers of both – have prompted world leaders and international organizations to sound the alarm about an imminent food crisis.
A gas burner of a stove is pictured in London, on July 31, 2008.  British energy firm Centrica said Thursday that net profit surged 79 percent to 1.802 billion pounds (2.286 billion euros, 3.569 billion dollars) in the first half as it charged more for its gas and electricity to fight soaring wholesale costs. - Sputnik International, 1920, 02.08.2022
Analysis
British Economist: Much UK Energy Cost Rise is Due to Political Anti-Russia Sanctions
The UK’s own domestic gas bills are set to triple inside a year, as sanctions and embargoes on Russian energy imports by western states have sent natural gas prices soaring to record levels. Petrol and diesel prices have almost doubled of late, adding to the relentless grip of the cost of living crisis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasized that western countries’ "short-sighted" policies were behind the price crunch.
A Nord Stream 2 employee works on a platform in the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline's receiving station - Sputnik International, 1920, 11.08.2022
Analysis
'The Last Laugh': EU Sanctions on Russia Backfiring as Moscow Winning 'Energy War,' Analysts Say
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