BP exit opens new front in West’s campaign against Russia

Feb 28 (Reuters) – Energy giant BP has opened a new front in the West’s drive to isolate Russia’s economy, with its decision to leave the oil-rich country the most aggressive move ever made by a venture in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Western allies have stepped up efforts to punish Russia with new sanctions, including closing their airspace to Russian planes, cutting off some of its banks from the SWIFT financial network and limiting Moscow’s ability to deploy its $630 billion of foreign exchange reserves – measures that should pulverize the country. economy. Read more

The ruble plunged nearly 30% to an all-time low against the dollar on Monday. Read more

BP, the biggest foreign investor in Russia, said it was dumping its stake in state oil company Rosneft (ROSN.MM) at a cost of up to $25 billion, halving its oil and gas reserves. gas. Read more

The British company’s abrupt move shines a light on other Western companies operating in Russia amid growing pressure from governments to tighten the financial screws on Moscow after it launched the biggest assault on a European country since World War II. Read more

Majority Norwegian state-owned energy group Equinor (EQNR.OL) said on Monday it would start divesting its joint ventures in Russia. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, will also divest its Russian assets, worth around 25 billion Norwegian kroner ($2.80 billion). Read more

In a video call on Sunday, the European Union’s internal market chief asked the chief executives of Alphabet and its YouTube unit to ban users from making war propaganda in the framework of measures to put an end to misinformation about Ukraine.

The EU banned Russian media RT and Sputnik and Alphabet’s Google banned Russian media RT and other channels from receiving money for ads on their websites, apps and YouTube videos, like a decision by Facebook after the invasion. Read more

A FORBIDDEN ZONE

In an unprecedented measure, European countries and Canada have decided to close their airspace to Russian planes and the United States is considering a similar action, according to American officials.

United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) and FedEx Corp (FDX.N), two of the world’s largest logistics companies, announced they were suspending delivery service to Russia and the United States. Ukraine. Read more

Much of Russia’s economy will be a no-go zone for Western banks and financial firms after the decision to cut off some of its banks from SWIFT, a secure messaging system used for billions of dollars in transactions around the world.

Even neutral Switzerland is likely to follow the European Union in sanctioning Russia and freezing Russian assets, its president said on Sunday. Read more

Russians lined up at ATMs over the weekend, fearing the new sanctions could trigger cash shortages and disrupt payments. Read more

Reporting by Ron Bousso and Dmitry Zhdannikov in London and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels: Writing by Carmel Crimmins: Editing by Grant McCool

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