Exclusive-Russia’s VTB does not expect Western sanctions to be lifted soon

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its military action in Ukraine will not be lifted anytime soon, the CEO of Russia’s second largest lender VTB Andrei Kostin told Reuters in an interview.

“I don’t really believe that the sanctions will be lifted quickly. I don’t see how that is possible. A good example is the Jackson-Vanik amendment. It was enacted against the USSR, and it was only repealed in 2012,” Kostin said.

Kostin was referring to a law that dated back to the Cold War years and linkeds trade relations with the Soviet Union to the rights of religious minorities to emigrate.

Kostin said he thought that Russia’s forex reserves, frozen in the West after the start of the Ukraine conflict, would not be returned.

“In the West, they say, let’s pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine from the reserves. And they will draw up such a bill that even the reserves will not be enough,” Kostin predicted.