Russia's finance minister says his country stands to lose some $40 billion per year due to Western sanctions.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on November 23, "We are losing around $40 billion per year due to geopolitical sanctions and $90 to $100 billion per year due to the 30-percent reduction in the price of oil."
The United States, European Union, and other nations have imposed a series of sanctions on Russia over its role in the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine and its illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March.
The sanctions and falling price of oil have spurred a drastic reduction in the value of the Russian ruble, which has lost more than 30 percent of its value since March.
