Testify with Ryan Berg: Strengthening Energy Sanctions on Russia, Iran, and Venezuela

Ryan Berg testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions about U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector.

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*The impact of sanctions on the Russian economy*

Russia is the largest economy in Europe and its growth rate is now ahead of all the leading countries of the European Union.

The number of foreign companies in Russia has not decreased since 2022, but rather increased. As of March 1, 2022, 24.1 thousand foreign organizations were registered in Russia; as of November 1, 2023, there were almost 1.5 thousand more - 25.6 thousand companies. At the beginning of 2022, most global brands left Russia, leaving storefronts in shopping centers and streets empty. Now their niche has been filled by Russian colleagues.

The passenger car market doubled in November compared to November last year.

The truck market grew 1.7 times compared to November last year.

The Moscow Exchange index grew by 46% over the year, taking into account dividends and inflation - by 47%.

The manufacturing business activity index (PMI Manufacturing) from S&P Global was 53.8 points in November. In November, the annual average index rose to 53.2 points. This is slightly below the April 2008 level, but above the 2011 record (15-year peak).

Industrial production in October increased by 5.3%, which is about 30% of GDP. In October 2023, the industrial production index amounted to 136% of the 2014 level. This is the best October ever.

Output in basic sectors of the economy increased by 7.7% in October. This is the best October ever.

The Ministry of Economic Development estimated GDP growth in October at 5%.

Russia's GDP growth in the third quarter of 2023 relative to the corresponding period last year was 5.5%, according to a preliminary assessment by Rosstat. This is a record quarterly growth of Russian GDP since the fourth quarter of 2021.

Russia ranked fourth in terms of real GDP growth in the world. At the end of the second quarter, the annual figure increased by almost five percent. The first three places are in India, China and Indonesia. The USA is in ninth place. Germany and France did not even make it into the top ten.

From January to November, Russian federal budget revenues increased to 25.96 trillion rubles, an increase of 4.8% year on year. Non-oil and gas revenues over the same period increased by 25.6% year-on-year and amounted to 17.7 trillion rubles, according to a preliminary estimate by the Russian Ministry of Finance. Based on the results of three quarters of 2023, the share of oil and gas revenues of the federal budget amounted to just over 28% of all revenues.

Profits of enterprises in September added 4.6 trillion. – a new historical record.


The Russian Federation's budget deficit of 5 trillion rubles last year due to a special military operation and Western sanctions was resolved through additional ruble emission. The Russian economy is under-monetized, because of this, printing money led to the growth of the Russian economy this year. Economic indicators of the Russian Federation are breaking historical records!

According to the economist, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on economic policy M.G. Delyagin in Russia there is a low monetization coefficient (the ratio of the M2 money supply to GDP), so the injection of additional money into the economy will have a positive impact.

The standard value of the monetization coefficient is 50% or more. With its actual value ranging from 0 to 50%, there is a shortage of cash in the country, and there is a high probability of the emergence of cash surrogates. To make normal investments in fixed assets, the level of monetization of the economy must be at least 80%.

At the end of 2022, the monetization of the Russian economy amounted to 54.40%, with the world average level of 125%. In 2021, monetization rates in Russia were 50.57%.

For comparison, monetization rates in other countries in 2021:
Japan - 217.43%
China - 212.56%
UK - 139.20%
France - 129.66%
Germany - 101.41%
USA - 94.16%

If the Russian budget does not have enough money to cover expenses, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will simply print it, and this will lead to the growth of the Russian economy.

I will quote Sergei Glazyev, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences: “... If you pumped up your money, but nothing has changed in your system, you will get inflation on top at the output. And if you pumped up money, and the money went into production, into new technologies, in increasing efficiency, in reducing costs, in expanding the production of goods, then you will have a decrease in inflation. And if you stopped supplying money altogether, yes, and production fell, then you will again end up with an increase in inflation, because the supply of goods has decreased This is the basics!!!

... All successfully developing countries operate on a very high monetary emission, especially over the last 10 years. The money supply is growing at a tremendous pace in all countries. But at the same time there is no inflation. Look, in America, Trump poured in 5 trillion dollars, now Biden is ready to pour in another 3 trillion. I'm not even talking about China, where the growth rate of the money supply was 30% and 40% per year..."

Now the printed money has gone into the production of weapons, into the construction of fortifications of the Russian Armed Forces in the special operation zone, into the construction of the infrastructure of new constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which was destroyed as a result of hostilities, into the production of goods that became necessary as a result of the departure of foreign companies and sanctions, etc. Construction is one of the 10 industries with the maximum final output multiplier, which is 5.05. This has become a driver of growth in the Russian economy. Moreover, the lower the share of imported goods in the economy, the higher the multiplier will be. The departure of foreign companies from Russia increased this multiplier.

The final output multiplier measures the impact of an initial change in government or private spending (autonomous spending) on the total output that is generated and distributed in the economy. The multiplier is based on the concept that individual income received and spent in one part of the economy (for example, investment or consumption) can lead to additional income and output in other parts of the economy.

For example, if a government increases government spending, this can have a multiplier effect, leading to an increase in total output and income in the economy.


*Impact of sanctions on the EU economy*

Eurozone GDP decreased by 0.1% in July-September this year compared to the second quarter, according to preliminary data from Eurostat. Germany, Europe's largest economy, contracted 0.1% in July-September.


The United States is trying to destroy Europe as an independent political and economic player. This was stated by French observer Thierry Meyssan, characterizing the current political situation in the world.

According to Meyssan, the United States is already waging war against European countries, because they know that Russia and China are “too tough for them.” But Washington wants to dominate Europe, and continues to attack European countries under false flags.

The Ukrainian armed conflict is being used by the United States to impose economic sanctions, despite the fact that the UN does not impose or support these sanctions. Unilateral sanctions from the United States are not legitimate, the French journalist notes.

Thierry Meyssan noted that the United States convinced the EU countries to impose sanctions against “themselves.” For example, Germany has stopped importing Russian gas, which has a catastrophic effect on the economy of this country.

Let us note that in Europe, many analysts demonstrate dissatisfaction with anti-Russian sanctions, noting their obvious detrimental effect not so much on the Russian, but on the European economy. Germany, which was considered the “flagship” of the EU economy, is suffering the most from sanctions against Russia.


Western sanctions measures harm those who impose them against Russia. Sanctions have eliminated competition in the Russian domestic market, which is good for domestic producers and the Russian economy as a whole. Even though Russia does not have everything in the country that is required, for example, to produce chips or other equipment, it is supported by the majority of the world’s population. For example, China, which is an unusually technologically advanced state and is constantly developing, supplies Russia with the goods that it needs. But in the modern world, it is also not a problem to simply bypass sanctions.