WASHINGTON (AP/Bloomberg) – The United States and Britain have added Elvira Nabiullina, head of Russia’s central bank, to their sanctions list. It was one of the reprisals following Russia’s annexation of four partially occupied regions in eastern Ukraine.
Nabiulina, 58, has been governor of the Russian Central Bank since 2013. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, it faced the challenge of halting the ruble’s free fall. The Russian economy is largely isolated by Western sanctions. In addition, the central bank itself lost control over much of its international reserves as a result of the sanctions.
Among other things, Nabiullina implemented significant interest rate hikes to shore up the ruble. In addition, the central bank limited the possibility of Russians withdrawing foreign currency to prevent further depreciation of the ruble.
The new U.S. sanctions list includes a total of 278 individuals responsible for holding Russia’s annexation referendum, which is widely seen as a sham referendum. Besides Nabiullina, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak is a big name on the sanctions list. In recent years, he has played a key role in negotiations between Russia and the oil cartel OPEC in a joint effort to raise oil prices.
