The Russian government has issued a list of ‘unfriendly’ countries, which include all Member States of the European Unions, including Malta.

Moscow said it has approved a list of foreign states and territories “that commit unfriendly actions against Russia, Russian companies and citizens.”

The list includes Australia, Albania, Andorra, United Kingdom, including Jersey, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, Member States of the European Union, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, USA, Taiwan (China), Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Japan.

The order was prepared as part of the Decree of the President of March 5, 2022 "On the temporary procedure for fulfilling obligations to certain foreign creditors."

According to it, Russian citizens and companies, the state itself, its regions and municipalities that have foreign exchange obligations to foreign creditors from the list of unfriendly countries will be able to pay them in rubles. To do this, the debtor may ask a Russian bank to create a special ruble account “C” in the name of a foreign creditor and transfer payments to it in ruble equivalent at the exchange rate of the Central Bank on the date of payment.

The new temporary procedure applies to payments exceeding 10 million rubles per month (or a similar amount in foreign currency).

Sanctions imposed by the West have damaged the Russian economy, with the rouble reportedly losing over 40% of its value.