Business programme

The last two decades have seen a significant increase in the number of restrictive measures imposed on countries, economic sectors and corporations. The risk of sanctions has long since extended beyond ‘marginal’ and ‘shadow’ sectors of the economy, and today affects major multinational companies around the world, with banks and the financial sector at the most serious risk. Sanctions present a threat to both the financial infrastructure of the ‘target country’ and foreign banks. In recent years, major banks such as UniСredit, Standard Chartered and JPMorgan Chase have had to pay fines for violating sanctions regimes. Restrictions imposed in order to serve political ends may interfere with the normal functioning of the global financial system. The transformation of the dollar into a weapon carries the threat of unforeseen shocks. Restrictions on the financial sector are also associated with human rights issues, particularly a lack of access to financial services (underbanking) for large groups of citizens. The risk of sanctions is also growing in other sectors of the economy. China has been subject to landmark sanctions on a host of telecommunications and manufacturing companies. In India, attention is focused on US bans on the purchase of Iranian oil and deals outlining military-industrial cooperation with Russia. The European Union is looking seriously at the threat of extraterritorial sanctions by third countries. There is significant interest in discussing the issue among US-based companies, which are facing the risk of fines from their own government. The intensity and indiscriminate nature with which sanctions are deployed suggests that a targeted political tool is now becoming all-encompassing. In the context of eroding international norms, they also serve as a kind of regulator of relations between countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has had almost no effect on the intensity of sanctions. Restrictions are now being applied even more heavily in a number of areas. How are geopolitical issues related to the use of sanctions? What will be the consequence of transforming the dollar into a weapon and a site of political leverage? Why is the financial sector most vulnerable to sanctions? Should we expect a new escalation in sanctions against Russia? How can the risk of sanctions be managed at the level of business, the state and international organizations?

Moderator
Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; Director of Programmes of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC); Associate Professor at MGIMO University

Panellists
Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights (online)
Arnaud Dubien, Director of the Observo, Analytical Centre of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce
Gilles Carbonnier, Vice President, International Committee of the Red Cross
Vladimir Kolychev, Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Chizhov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the EU
Tony Ewing, Managing Director, Conquer Risk Capital; Advisory Board Member, RC Investments (online)

Alena Douhan

UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights

Arnaud Dubien

Director of the Observo, Analytical Centre of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce

A graduate of the French National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) and Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP Paris), he was, from 1999 to 2006, a Russia-CIS researcher at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Strategiques (IRIS). He then headed several publications on the post-Soviet area, including the Russian edition of the Foreign Policy magazine and the Ukraine Intelligence and Russia Intelligence confidential newsletters. In the last few years, Arnaud Dubien has also worked as a consultant for the Center for Analysis and Forecasting of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as for major French industrial groups. Chief-Editor of the annual report “Russia 2015”.

Gilles Carbonnier

Vice President, International Committee of the Red Cross

Mr Carbonnier has been professor of development economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies since 2007, where he also served as Director of Studies and President of the Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action. His expertise focuses on international development cooperation, the economic dynamics of armed conflict, and the nexus between natural resources and development. His latest book, published by Hurst and Oxford University Press in 2016, is entitled Humanitarian Economics. War, Disaster and the Global Aid Market.
Prior to joining the Graduate Institute, Gilles Carbonnier worked with the ICRC in Iraq, Ethiopia, El Salvador and Sri Lanka (1989-91), and served as economic adviser at ICRC headquarters (1999-2006). Between 1992 and 1996, he was in charge of international trade negotiations and development cooperation programmes with the Swiss Federal Department of Economy.

Vladimir Kolychev

Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation

Vladimir Chizhov

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the EU

Born December 3, 1953. Graduated with honours from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO - University) and joined diplomatic service in 1976. Started his diplomatic career in Greece, then worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow and in Cyprus. Served as Deputy Head of the Russian delegation to the OSCE in Vienna (Austria), Deputy High Representative for Bosnia Peace Implementation in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Russian Special Representative for Cyprus and the Balkans. In 2002 appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Since 2005 has occupied a post of Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community in Brussels (Belgium). Conducted analytical research on European security, OSCE, Russia-EU and Russia-NATO relations, Mediterranean, Balkans, problems of Cyprus and Northern Ireland, peace-keeping operations.

Tony Ewing

Managing Director, Conquer Risk Capital; Advisory Board Member, RC Investments

Dr. Maurice “Tony” Ewing is a renowned management consultant, behavioral data scientist and public speaker who has advised many of the world’s largest banks and companies spanning more than 50 countries, including Russia. Having led the creation of the world’s first digital/mobile-lending eco-system, Dr. Ewing now manages his own consultancy and teaches digital banking to Fortune Global 500 CEOs and major Chinese entities within the Executive Education program of Churchill College, Cambridge. A student of former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, famed Russian mathematician, Yakov Sinai and Nobel Laureate John Nash, Dr. Ewing is the Chairman, all-Russia, for admissions interviews to Princeton.