Economic Sanctions against Russia - Iryna Bogdanova at the University of Copenhagen

On February 23, Iryna Bogdanova, postdoctoral researcher at the World Trade Institute, presented at the University of Copenhagen. The topic of her presentation was "Economic Sanctions against Russia: The End of the “Wandel durch Handel” Narrative".

Iryna talked about economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, their effectiveness and enforcement as well as circumvention practices. Besides this, the possibility of using frozen Russian assets (belonging to the Central Bank and private individuals) for funding Ukraine’s reconstruction and the legality of such a move were discussed.

Here is the link to the event: https://jura.ku.dk/icourts/calendar/2023/breakfast-briefing-with-iryna-bogdanova/

Enclosed, you find the entire presentation (all slides).

Abstract

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, economic sanctions imposed on Russia after its annexation of Crimea in 2014 have been significantly tightened in an effort to stall the war. These economic sanctions are diverse and range from measures against Russian sovereign debt and freezing of the Russian Central Bank’s assets to technological and transportation sanctions.

The imposed restrictions sparked perennial debates about the legality of unilateral economic sanctions, their effectiveness and enforcement as well as circumvention practices. Besides these traditional concerns, a new issue that has attracted significant attention is the possibility of using frozen Russian assets (belonging to the Central Bank and private individuals) for funding Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts and the legality of such a move. Iryna Bogdanova will address all those issues during her presentation.

About the Speaker

Iryna Bogdanova is a postdoctoral researcher at the World Trade Institute (WTI), University of Berne. In 2020, Iryna was awarded a PhD degree (Summa cum Laude) by the Faculty of Law of the University of Berne. Her thesis explored the legality of unilateral economic sanctions, i.e. those imposed by individual states without authorization of the UN Security Council, under international law, and came out as a book in July 2022. Iryna is a graduate of the Master of International Law and Economics Program at the WTI and holds bachelor’s and master’s diplomas from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine.