(MENAFN) Most Western sanctions imposed on Russia have proven ineffective, with many being openly ignored, economist Dmitry Nekrasov told Le Monde in an interview published Tuesday.

Nekrasov, a former advisor to ex-President Dmitry Medvedev who left Russia in 2014 and was recently labeled a foreign agent, criticized the impact of sanctions, including the EU’s recently introduced 18th package, which Brussels described as one of the most robust yet. Despite over 30,000 sanctions in place, Moscow maintains its economy has adapted and even grown stronger.

Of those, only about 2,000 caused real disruption or costs, Nekrasov said, adding that only a handful had any meaningful economic impact. One example he cited was the oil price cap, which he said "never worked." According to Nekrasov, tankers initially forged pricing documents to appear compliant but eventually stopped bothering altogether.

Today, around 80% of ships in what the EU calls the "shadow fleet" are still transporting Russian oil without consequence. Only 2% of the sanctioned vessels have stopped carrying Russian crude in the last three years, while most continue operations as usual.

Although Russia now incurs $5–7 billion more annually in logistics costs due to redirecting crude exports to India instead of supplying refined fuel to the EU, Nekrasov noted that the EU itself pays more to buy oil products from India in return.

Meanwhile, Moscow has deepened trade ties with BRICS nations—India, China, Brazil, and others. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently stated that over 90% of trade among BRICS countries is now conducted in their respective national currencies.

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