Russia’s claim against the USA for the sanctions against the Rossiya Bank is unprecedented, lawyers say

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has never considered disputes similar to the claim, which will possibly be moved by the Russian Federation against the USA for the sanctions against the Rossiya Bank. Should such trial take place, this could create an incident – say the lawyers questioned by RAPSI. They believe, however, that the Russian side has few chances of winning, because the sanctions are purely political.

Advocate Alexander Bolomatov, Partner of the Law Firm "YUST", says: “It appears that an attempt to evaluate political sanctions through the protection procedures of the WTO is not too likely to succeed. It is obvious that the sanctions against the Rossiya Bank are not connected to the economic activity and the attempt by the USA to limit the economic influence of said credit institution. In this case, the limitations imposed on the credit institution are aimed to try and affect Russia politically”.

In his opinion, the issue is at the stage of legal elaboration of the position, and there is yet a very long way to the actual filing of a request on Russia’s behalf to the WTO – if such decision is actually taken.

The expert said: “The claim itself, taking into consideration the rules and procedures of dispute settlement in use within the WTO, will be regarded with criticism, as an attempt to use the WTO mechanism for the purposes of interfering with non-economic spheres of international relations. I believe that the WTO will make every effort to distance itself from such matters as far as possible”.