The Singapore government has given unexpected economic sanctions against Russia. Singapore is very rare in publicly imposing sanctions. But Singapore financial firms finally exposed that they received a rigid prohibition in transactioning with Bank Rossiya, Promsvyazbank, VEB, and VTB Bank.
Singapore is highly concerned about the fate of small states like its own. The Diplomat noted that the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs will focus its sanctions on export controls and block certain financial transactions. It has been a while since The Singapore government imposed unilateral sanctions. It was over 40 years ago when Vietnam invaded Cambodia. The details on the sanctions are yet to be launched.
The prohibition also includes cryptocurrencies. The Singapore government financial institutions also instructed not to engage in transactions with the Russian government, The Central Bank of Russia, and other Russian-related banks. As an addition, state-owned banks and the Monetary Authority of Singapore have halted investment in the newly issued securities.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore argued that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine contradicts the UN Charter. It depicts the severe violation to international law. The minister also noted that Singapore’s current prohibitions and sanctions are in relation to the Singapore’s governments’ value fair relations with Russia. Singapore’s sanction is beyond theoretical principle, it completely condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Analysts expect that Singapore sanctions can give an additional crippling effect to Russia’s economy, said IFR Asia. Russian banks and firms are already frozen under international and U.S. sanctions. After the U.S’s sanctions, Russia cannot enter into any U.S. dollar-denominated transactions. The EU also gives severe sanctions. It decides to ban Russia’s share and firm from SWIFT. Meanwhile, SWIFT is central to the global payments network.
