Russia suffers as sanctions bite

The Hague - The Russian economy is increasingly reeling under Western sanctions in protest at President Vladimir Putin's aggressive stance in the eastern Ukraine.

According to reports in the European press Herman Gref, CEO of Russia's Sberbank, told journalists in Moscow that the worst is yet to come for his country's banking industry. Sberbank is the largest Russian bank, holding almost half of all Russian deposits and accounting for about a third of all lending.

Russia's economy has been hit hard by the sanctions instituted by the European Union (EU) and the United States. In addition, the lower oil price has limited the Russian capacity for generating income, while the huge drop in the rouble's value has made imports much more expensive.