PASHA_BANK_ANNUAL REPORT 2022

22 PASHA Bank 2022 Annual Report a challenging period Global economic activity in 2022 started under pressure with pandemic measures against coronavirus variants. Despite vaccinations, uncertainties due to the pandemic continued to be effective on economy. Furthermore, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the most significant factor that had a negative impact on economic activity. After Russia’s start of military operation to Ukraine on 24 February, tough sanctions imposed to Russia were determining factors in the course of the markets. Oil prices increased significantly with the effect of increasing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine during the first months of the year. Barrel price of brent crude oil was at the peak of last 10 years at USD 128. With the impact of a drift to safe investment instruments, gold prices rapidly increased in February and March and tested USD 2,050 per ounce. Upon Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many countries, primarily European Union and USA, announced tough sanctions against Russia. US Ministry of Treasury imposed limitations for Russian institutions, including large Russian banks, to provide financing from USA markets with the purpose of isolating Russia from international finance and trade. With a joint announcement from USA, EU countries, England and Canada, many Russian banks were taken out of the SWIFT system. Moreover, measures were taken to limit Russian Central Bank to access international reserves. Overview of 2022 and Expectations for 2023