Ekonomické sankce aplikované Evropskou unií na Ruskou federaci a jejich vliv na mezinárodní obchod

Abstract

This bachelor’s thesis focuses on the economic sanctions imposed by the European Union on the Russian Federation in response to its aggression against Ukraine. The aim of the thesis is to determine how the EU’s sanctions policy has affected trade flows between the two entities and to assess whether there are indications of sanctions evasion through selected third countries. The theoretical part deals with the definition, objectives, and typology of sanctions, their historical development, and the current academic debate regarding their effectiveness. The next section analyzes the mechanism of sanctions adoption at the EU level, the historical context of the war in Ukraine, and the development of individual sanctions packages since 2014. In the analytical part, the hypothesis that economic sanctions have led to a decline in trade between the EU and Russia for selected commodities, while trade with certain third countries has increased, is tested. The thesis focuses on trade flows of four groups of goods (oil and petroleum products, fertilizers, organic chemicals, iron and steel) between Russia, the EU, and third countries (Turkey, Kazakhstan, Serbia) during the period 2013–2023. The analysis also includes an examination of Russia’s comparative advantage in the selected commodities and the calculation of the trade intensity index. The results indicate that the EU’s economic sanctions against Russia have had limited effectiveness. A key issue identified is the lack of international coordination, which allows sanctions to be circumvented through third countries. The analysis confirmed that sanctions evasion indeed occurs in certain commodities, although the extent of this phenomenon varies depending on the type of goods and the nature of mutual trade relations.