Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan Most Affected by US Sanctions - Expert

Alexey Bobrovsky, director of the Russian Institute for the Study of World Markets, stated in an interview with TASS that Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have experienced the greatest impact from the US sanctions against Russia, The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.

According to him, Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan benefited from sanctions against Russia, while Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan received the greatest effect.

"For some post-Soviet countries, the sanctions imposed on Russia served as the strongest impetus for economic growth. First of all, Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan, to which quite a lot of our citizens relocated after the start of the special military operation, felt this," he noted.

"But the effect of their relocation turned out to be somewhat short-term - as soon as they ran out of money, they started returning back to Russia. Although companies opened by Russian citizens after the relocation are still operating in Georgia and Armenia, accordingly, Russian money has remained in the economies of these countries. But the most long-term effect was achieved by countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, which became a kind of transit point for parallel imports," the expert explained.

He added that Kazakhstan could have also benefited, but due to Astana’s reserved, cautious position, "the money turned around from there."