Page 47 - bne_March 2025_20250304

bne March 2025 Eastern Europe I 47
Part of this success was Russia quickly found trade partners willing to act as middle-men to bypass sanctions and the import of technology fell only 2% by value in 2023 from the pre-war levels. But it was also due to Russian enterprises boosting investment and re-tooling their production lines, using technology from places like China that was not under sanctions. Russia is Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse and the level of technology needed is not the highest and so does not have
to be exclusively sourced in the West.
“Accelerated adaptability” was the mot du jour at SPIEF. A CBR survey conducted in the autumn of 2022 found that only a tiny share of companies had found no solution to replacing banned goods. Trade via friendly third countries means that most of the products that disappeared in the first half that year were back in the stores by the end of the year. In March 2023, Putin remarked that “every cloud has a silver lining”, describing the restrictions as a step towards strengthening Russia’s economic and financial sovereignty.
In one example, Russian Deputy Health Minister Sergei Glagolev said earlier this month that the share of domestic production among drugs registered in Russia neared 80% in 2024, Interfax reported.
In recent weeks, reports have emerged suggesting the potential return of Western firms to Russia as a result
of the unexpectedly warm tones at the opening session of the Russo-US ceasefire talks in Riyadh on February 18. Against this backdrop, Russian officials have signalled a selective approach to the re-entry of Western companies.
Western companies will be admitted
to be in sectors without risks for the national economy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on February 21, but they need not be "discouraged from the Russian market," the foreign minister added.
On February 20, First Deputy Prime
Minister Denis Manturov announced that Russia would permit only companies it deemed beneficial to return to its market. He added the following day that he would be willing to consider allowing US company Boeing to restart purchases of Russian titanium, reported Interfax.
Speaking at the Future Technologies Forum the following day, Putin instructed the government to regulate the process for companies seeking re-entry, a sharp volte-face from
the Kremlin’s previous policy of de facto appropriating leading Western business still operating in Russia.
Valentine’s Day is a ‘spiritual venereal disease,' Russian MP Says
bne IntelliNews
Valentine’s Day is a "spiritual venereal disease" and a form of "cultural sabotage" against Russia, according to Vitaly Milonov, a controversial deputy in Russia's State Duma.
Speaking to the state-owned media outlet RT, Milonov – known for his extreme anti-Western rhetoric – denounced the holiday’s Western origins and commercial nature.
Milonov, deputy chair of the parliamentary committee on family, women, and children, described the celebration as "plastic nonsense" imported during the 1990s.
"Why do we need this plastic nonsense? What does this ‘holiday’ bring to our country? I believe the introduction of Valentine's Day was a successful spiritual diversion against Russia, carried out by liberals in the 1990s," Milonov said.
The MP compared the influence of the holiday to a contagious disease infecting Russian society.
The same day, Milonov spoke to the state-run TASS news agency, describing Valentine's Day as a symbol of the degradation of spiritual values into "vulgarity and materialism," and a reflection of "the regression of Christian values in modern Western Europe."
"All these discounts on shameful products, lingerie, 'love drops,' and various stimulating pills have become the symbol of this holiday,” he said, even suggesting that the government establish a special police force to regulate the sale of such goods.
"I can honestly say that it's absolutely clear to me that Russia lacks an authority that could be called a morality police – an institution that would monitor compliance with the norms and rules needed to protect traditional values from such commercial encroachments,” he said.
This is not the first time Milonov has attacked Western cultural practices with similarly inflammatory remarks. In recent months, he has called for "body positivity" to be outlawed, suggested bombing Ukraine with sex toys, and proposed sending divorced men to the front lines as punishment. In previous years, he advocated for the sterilisation of LGBT Russians and a ban on shirtless men walking the streets.
www.bne.eu