Four-years of sanctions, oil slump cost Russia $600B

Sanctions on the Russian economy, as well as the decline in oil prices, are expected to cause a loss of $600 billion for the country during a four-year period, starting with the 2014 Ukraine crisis and lasting to the end of 2017.

According to a news report published in the Russian Vedemosti daily, research conducted by a group of economic experts under the leadership of Evsey Gurvich and Ilya Prilepsko, revealed that economic sanctions on Russia, which were imposed on the country because of its actions in Ukraine, are expected to cause a loss of $170 billion in that period. Also, it is estimated that Russia will suffer a loss of $400 billion, as the country's export revenues tumble because of falling oil and natural gas prices.

Experts estimate that nearly $280 billion in capital will flow from the country, including around $85 billion in direct investments.

According to the research, sanctions play a major part in capital flows in the country, and the decline in oil prices and revenue generated from fixed capital and retail, the deceleration of the ruble, as well as the rise of inflation, are of critical importance.

It is predicted that the total decline in the growth of the Russian economy will be 8.4 percent during the four-year period, an average of 2.1 percent on an annual basis.