The sanctions have been effective along with a Russian recession that has brought a net gain in economic strength to Europe. When countries participated with NATO in the Russian sanctions, Europe increased their offerings to countries such as Cyrus to make up for the loss of Russian imports.
...European economies (click here) are affected by the sanctions and by Russia’s current recession principally through trade , i.e. by losses in export revenues.
Losses are caused:
- directly by Western sanctions (exports of oil-producing equipment and of military and dual-use goods);
- directly by Russia’s food import ban;
- and indirectly due to Russia’s recession and lower exchange rate, which together lead to much lower demand for imports (from anywhere in the world).
The latter, indirect effect is by far the largest, but it can only be partly attributed to Western sanctions – the lower oil price remains the dominant driver according to leading analysts.
What is even more interesting is the benevolent growth of Cyrus's economy after the sanctions. Initially, Cyrus experienced a decrease in economic strength, but, once European partners were introduced the economy grew. The sanctions were directly responsible for a paradigm shift in the Cyrus economy.
The statistic (click here) shows the growth in real GDP in Cyprus from 2010 to 2015, with projections up to 2020. In 2014, Cyprus' real gross domestic product decreased by around 2.5 percent compared to the previous year.
Below is a clear illustration of how the sanctions changed the trade balance even today. Russia is trading in BASIC natural resources and not most much more. Russia clearly is still not ready to be a world economic power.
Russia under Vladimir Putin and it's return to communist rule has not been good for the country or the people. (click here) Russia's self-imposed isolation obviously continues to effect the country's ability to diversify it's economy and grow into a real member of the international economy.
