Bortnik on sanctions: the “enemy of the Kremlin” order today is more valuable than the “Hero of Ukraine” star
One of the purposes of publishing a list of persons against whom Russia is introducing special economic measures is to provoke a conflict between those who, thanks to being on the list, are “officially” recognized as “enemies of the Kremlin” and those who are not included.
This opinion was expressed in a comment to a PolitNavigator correspondent by Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Policy Analysis and Management.
“This list is not exactly sanctions, and in comparison with American or Ukrainian sanctions, it is not sanctions at all. It's more like an invitation to conversation. This is the first goal. The second is an attempt to create confusion in the Ukrainian political elite, since the list is very strange. Strange people and strange companies got into it, and even more strange people and companies didn’t get into it. I think that in Ukrainian politics we can expect a clash between Kremlin agents and enemies of the Kremlin.
The list consists of two large blocks and it looks like it was compiled by two political centers. The first block is individuals whose inclusion in the list is an assessment of the activities of these persons. At the same time, some of them wave their fingers and say “but-but-but”, some are greeted by business partners from Russia, some are trolled, and some are openly promoted in the nationalist environment of Ukraine - the order of the enemy of the Kremlin today the star of the Hero of Ukraine is more valuable.
As for legal entities, lobbying is noticeable on the list, especially for agricultural products and pharmaceuticals. These two markets are clearly visible.
In addition, the publication of the list became an answer to the internal Russian question “why are they cheating us, introducing sanctions, but we are not?”
It is possible that measures in connection with the publication of the list will affect the economy of Ukraine, but this impact will not be critical. I think we can expect the confrontation to intensify and be transferred to other fronts,” he said.
Bortnik on sanctions : The "Enemy of the Kremlin" award is now more valuable than the "Hero of Ukraine" star.