Ukraine may seem to be a long way from where you live, and that may well be a good reason to think that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia won't have any bearing on your life, but it IS going to affect your wallet, and here's how..
Within hours of the start of the invasion, the stock markets around the world started to see the adverse financial effects of the conflict coming through, and the biggie is the price of oil and gas.
Russia is the world's 2nd largest exporter of oil and the largest exporter of natural gas. It's a massive part of its economy and a vital resource for the world.
The UK only gets 6% of its crude oil and 5% of its gas from Russia, which isn't a massive amount; however, the concern is that fresh, more extreme, sanctions which are likely to be imposed on Russia are likely to reduce the amount of oil and gas that can be exported, which will put pressure on the world's reserves of these essential commodities, and result in the price of fuel increasing, possibly drastically!
Within hours, the price per barrel of oil shot up to a level not seen since 2014, with the cost being around $103, which is about £74, and the average price per litre of petrol currently being around £1.50 per litre in the UK forecourts, and the conflict is likely to see these costs rise steadily over the coming days.
It is expected that the rise in wholesale fuel prices will, within the next day or so, mean that the cost per litre may easily hit £1.55 per litre, and should the conflict not be concluded swiftly, that it's not inconviebale that fuel prices will skyrocket, with some financial forecasters quoting figures around the £2.00 per litre mark, and possibly by the end of the month!
This means that the cost to fill up the car is likely to be the most expensive in history, which not only affects those people who rely on their vehicle for getting the kids to school and them to work, but also on the transport industry, and this is then likely to affect your wallet even further.
The transport industry is already stretched with a lack of drivers and expensive fuel, and a significant increase in these costs will see the products in shops rising quickly.
Looking at supermarket prices, the cost of your staple food supplies will increase, as the manufacturers and suppliers of your food products are going to be hit by price increases in raw ingredients due to potential shortages (Russia is a massive exporter of wheat to the world, so it's likely there will be a wheat shortage, leading to increased availability issues and the cost of the actual wheat itself), plus also the cost of transporting the goods to the factories, being passed on to the suppliers by the transport industry, which in turn is likely to be passed onto the cost of the products to the supermarkets.
The transport costs for the supermarkets to then deliver goods to the stores will also shoot up, again down to the increase in fuel costs, and this cost won't be sustainable, with the cost being passed on to you and me, the consumer.
The gas element is also essential, this gas is used to heat your homes and allow you to cook your dinner, and with fuel costs already on the up, and massive increases expected in April, the cost of heating your house will inevitably also rise, again to potentially the highest price in UK history, with some industry experts stating it could result in the cost of gas doubling in the coming weeks!
Not taking into account that the cost of copper and gold is likely to go sky high, due to again Russia being a major exporter, which probably won't affect your day to day wallet contents, but may start to impact the cost of certain electronic consumer goods, (Copper is used by a large number of manufacturers of electrical equipment, as too is gold, to a lower extent), it's looking like a very bumpy ride for UK consumers, and not taking away any of the horror and inhumanity that those living in Ukraine are experiencing as I write this, we are going to suffering the economic effect of this conflict for some time to come.