Elina Ribakova
Macroeconomics, economic statecraft, geopolitics.

Elina Ribakova has been a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since April 2023. She is also a nonresident fellow at Bruegel and a director of the International Affairs Program and vice president for foreign policy at the Kyiv School of Economics.

My Bio
Elina Ribakova has been a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since April 2023. She is also a nonresident fellow at Bruegel and a director of the International Affairs Program and vice president for foreign policy at the Kyiv School of Economics. Her research focuses on global markets, economic statecraft, and economic sovereignty. She has been a senior adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security (2020–23) and a research fellow at the London School of Economics (2015–17).

Ribakova has over 25 years of experience with financial markets and research. She has held several senior level roles, including deputy chief economist at the Institute of International Finance in Washington, managing director and head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Research at Deutsche Bank in London, leadership positions at Amundi (Pioneer) Asset Management, and director and chief economist for Russia and the Commonwealth for Independent States (CIS) at Citigroup.

Prior to that, Ribakova was an economist at the International Monetary Fund in Washington (1999–2008) working on financial stability, macroeconomic policy design for commodity-exporting countries, and fiscal policy.

Ribakova is a seasoned public speaker. She has participated in and led multiple panels with leading academics, policymakers, and C-level executives. She frequently collaborates with CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, and NPR. She is often quoted by and contributes op-eds to several global media, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais, and several other media outlets.
Ribakova holds a master of science degree in economics from the University of Warwick (1999), where she was awarded the Shiv Nath prize for outstanding academic performance, and a master of science degree in data science from the University of Virginia (May 2023).

Key projects
Economic statecraft
https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/redefining-europes-economic-sovereignty
Oil price embargo and cap on Russian oil
https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/oil-price-cap-and-embargo-russia-are-working-imperfectly-and-defects-must
Western technology and Russian military
https://kse.ua/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Challenges-of-Export-Controls-Enforcement.pdf
Text analytics for macro policy research
https://www.piie.com/publications/working-papers/central-banks-and-policy-communication-how-emerging-markets-have

https://www.ft.com/content/423dbe48-5b0b-4998-b206-8ba8e3392d12
OpEds
“Economic sanctions risk losing their bite as a US policy weapon”, Financial Times, November 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/b54201be-f307-4171-bb99-b356537b1898

Russia’s war machine is still running on Western equipment”, July 2023, https://www.barrons.com/articles/russia-ukraine-war-exports-sanctions-western-technology-5a3eff69

“The Ruble rally is real. Sanctions are a moving target”, April 2022, https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-ruble-rally-is-real-sanctions-are-a-moving-target-51649708830.

“Alternativas europeas a la energía rusa”, El País, April 2022, https://elpais.com/economia/2022-04-08/alternativas-europeas-a-la-energia-rusa.html.

“¿Puede Rusia esquivar las sanciones gracias a la economía digital?”, El País, May 2022, https://elpais.com/opinion/2022-06-01/puede-rusia-esquivar-las-sanciones-gracias-a-la-economia-digital.html.

Publications
“Challenges of Export Controls Enforcement: How Russia Continues to Import Components for Its Military Production.” Co-authored, Yermak-McFaul International Working Group on Russian Sanctions & Kyiv School of Economics Institute, January 2024, https://kse.ua/about-the-school/news/challenges-of-export-controls-enforcement-how-russia-continues-to-import-components-for-its-military-production/.

“Analysis of foreign business exits from Russia.” Co-authored, Kyiv School of Economics Institute, January 2024, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4648135.

“Vulnerability 4: Russia’s Financial Sector.” co-authored with Benjamin Hilgenstock, Center for a New American Security, December 2023, https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/identifying-russian-vulnerabilities-and-how-to-leverage-them.

“Bold Measures Are Needed as Russia’s Oil Is Slipping Beyond G7 Reach.” Co-authored with Benjamin Hilgenstock and Nataliia Shapoval, Kyiv School of Economics Institute, November 2023, https://kse.ua/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/OPC_November2023-1.pdf.

“Toughening Financial Sanctions on Russia.” Co-authored with Benjamin Hilgenstock and Guntram B. Wolff, Intereconomics, Volume 58, 2023 · Number 4 · pp. 201–208 · JEL: B17, F5 https://www.intereconomics.eu/contents/year/2023/number/4/article/toughening-financial-sanctions-on-russia.html

“Central banks and policy communication: How emerging markets have outperformed the Fed and ECB.” Co-authored with Tatiana Evdokimova, Piroska Nagy Mohácsi, Olga Ponomarenko, Working Papers 23-10, October 2023, https://www.piie.com/publications/working-papers/central-banks-and-policy-communication-how-emerging-markets-have.

“The oil price cap and embargo on Russia are working imperfectly, and defects must be fixed”, PIIE Blog, co-authored with Benjamin Hilgenstock and Guntram B. Wolff, July 2023, https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/oil-price-cap-and-embargo-russia-are-working-imperfectly-and-defects-must.

“Russia’s Military Capacity and the Role of Imported Components.” Co-authored, Yermak-McFaul International Working Group on Russian Sanctions & Kyiv School of Economics Institute, June 2023, https://kse.ua/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Russian-import-of-critical-components.pdf.

“Toughening Financial Sanctions on Russia: Enforcing Energy Sanctions and Reducing Shadow Reserves Effectively.” German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), co-authored with Benjamin Hilgenstock and Guntram B. Wolff, May 2023, https://dgap.org/en/research/publications/toughening-financial-sanctions-russia.

“ The impact of EU sanctions on Russian imports.” co-authored with Alessandro Borin, Gabriele Cappadona, Francesco Paolo Conteduca, Benjamin Hilgenstock, Oleg Itskhoki, Michele Mancini, and Maxim Mironov, VoxEU, May 2023, https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/impact-eu-sanctions-russian-imports.

“Sanctions against Russia will worsen its already poor economic prospects.” PIIE Blog, April 2023, https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/sanctions-against-russia-will-worsen-its-already-poor-economic-prospects.

“Russian Oil Exports Under International Sanctions.” co-authored with Tatiana Babina, Benjamin Hilgenstock, Oleg Itskhoki, Maxim Mironov, and Nataliia Shapoval, May 2023, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4430053.

“Assessing the Impact of International Sanctions on Russian Oil Exports.” co-authored with Tatiana Babina, Benjamin Hilgenstock, Oleg Itskhoki, and Maxim Mironov, February 2023, https://cepr.org/publications/dp17957 and https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4366337.

“Effectiveness of U.S Sanctions Targeting Russian Companies and Individuals.” Free Russia Foundation, Washington DC, January 2023, https://www.4freerussia.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/01/frf-sanctions-web.pdf.

“How Have Sanctions Impacted Russia?” co-authored with Maria Demertzis, Benjamin Hilgenstock, Ben McWilliams, and Simone Tagliapietra, Bruegel, October 2022, https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/how-have-sanctions-impacted-russia.

“Countering Economic Coercion: How Can the European Union Succeed?” co-authored with Benjamin Hilgenstock, European Strategic Autonomy series - Economy & Trade, Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), June 2022, https://feps-europe.eu/publication/countering-economic-coercion-how-can-the-european-union-succeed/.

“A European War in Ukraine: Geopolitical and Economic Consequences for the EU.” co-authored with Benjamin Hilgenstock, Esade Business School, EsadeEcPol, April 2022, https://www.esade.edu/ecpol/en/publicaciones/informe-economico-y-financiero-31/.

“Dealing with Non-Performing Loans in Covid Times.” co-authored with Reiner Martin, Piroska Nagy-Mohacsi, and Jonathan M. Fortun Vargas, in The Euro in 2022, jointly published by Bruegel and Fundacion de Estudios Financieros, January 2022, https://www.fundacionico.es/documents/137403/0/EURO+IN+2022+INT_Definitivo.pdf.

“The COVID Non-Performing Loan ’Tsunami’ that Never Happened and How to Avoid it Now.” co-authored, SUERF, The European Money and Finance Forum, February 2022, https://www.suerf.org/suer-policy-brief/40621/the-covid-non-performing-loan-tsunami-that-never-happened-and-how-to-avoid-it-now.

“Credible Emerging Market Central Banks Could Embrace Quantitative Easing to Fight COVID-19.” co-authored with Alessandro Rebucci, Alicia García-Herrero, Jonathan Hartley, and Gianluca Benigno, VoxEU, June 2020, https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/credible-emerging-market-central-banks-could-embrace-quantitative-easing-fight-covid.

“COVID-19 Reality Shock for Emerging Economies: Solutions to Deal with Dependence on External Funding”, VoxEU, co-authored with Alicia García-Herrero, May 2020, https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/covid-19s-reality-shock-emerging-economies-solutions-deal-dependence-external-funding.

“White Paper - Russia Sanctions: Adapting to a Moving Target”, Institute of International Finance (IIF), June 2022, https://www.usubc.org/site/recent-news/russia-sanctions--adapting-to-a-moving-target.

“White Paper - Russia Sanctions: Climbing the Escalation Ladder”, IIF, February 2022, https://fsi.stanford.edu/working-group-sanctions.

“White Paper - Market Interventions: U.S. Sanctions on Russia”, IIF, February 2020, https://github.comhttps://github.com/Eribakova/Publications/blob/main/02_19_2020_WhitePaper_Sanctions_ERibakova.pdf.

“Post-American Networks”, co-authored with Anne-Marie Slaughter, Project Syndicate, July 2019, https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/post-american-global-networks-by-anne-marie-slaughter-and-elina-ribakova-2019-07.

“Securing Europe’s Economic Sovereignty”, co-authored with Mark Leonard, Jean Pisani-Ferry, Jeremy Shapiro, and Guntram Wolff, Survival, 61:5, 75-98, 2019, https://www.iiss.org/publications/survival/2019/survival-global-politics-and-strategy-octobernovember-2019/615-07-leonard-et-al.

“Time to Worry about Illiquidity”, Policy Brief Series, Free Network, May 2016, https://freepolicybriefs.org/2016/05/16/time-worry-illiquidity/.

“The Use of Mortgage Covered Bonds”, co-authored. 2006. IMF Working Paper No. 07/20. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2016/12/31/The-Use-of-Mortgage-Covered-Bonds-20172.

“Foreign Direct Investment in European Transition Economies—The Role of Policies?” co-authored. IMF WP 05/110. Presented at Australasian and Far Eastern Meetings of Econometrics Society, both 2006. Journal of Comparative Economics, Volume 35 (2), June 2007, Pages 369-386, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596707000261.

“Liberalization, Prudential Supervision, and Capital Requirements: The Policy Trade-Offs”, IMF WP 05/136. Presented at the Royal Economic Society/Scottish Economic Society Annual Meetings, 2000, https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2016/12/31/Liberalization-Prudential-Supervision-and-Capital-Requirements-The-Policy-Trade-Offs-18284.

Public talks
Central Banks And Policy Communication: How Emerging Markets Have Outperformed The Fed And ECB | A Workshop Series On Using Text As Data In Policy Analysis
Hoover Institution, Stanford University, January 30, 2024
https://www.hoover.org/events/central-banks-and-policy-communication-how-emerging-markets-have-outperformed-fed-and-ecb

How useful have the EU’s financial sanctions on Russia been?
A reflection on the impact of sanctions against Russia, one year since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Bruegel, The Sound of Economics, February 2023
https://www.bruegel.org/podcast/how-useful-have-eus-financial-sanctions-russia-been

An Update on the Russian Economy with Elina Ribakova and Sergey Aleksashenko
Podcast Episode by Max Bergmannand Maria Snegovaya, July 2023
https://www.csis.org/podcasts/russian-roulette/update-russian-economy-elina-ribakova-and-sergey-aleksashenko

Who is winning the sanctions war?
The Economist, April 2022
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2022/08/24/who-is-winning-the-sanctions-war

Elina Ribakova on Russia Sanctions: Diving into the Details
With introductions by Markus Brunnermeier, Markus' Academy, April 2022
https://economics.princeton.edu/events/elina-ribakova-on-russia-sanctions-diving-into-the-details/
In the press
Selected press mentions, interviews, and peer references
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