According to the publication’s experts, Western sanctions convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin of the need for economic conservation and isolation, and Russia met the crisis pandemic 2020 with the lowest public debt among other developing countries. If earlier Russia was one of the most vulnerable countries to crises, now it is one of the most stable.
As the Correspondent writes, experts of the influential British publication The Financial Times have come to the conclusion that Western sanctions have brought Russia to conservative stability and made it stronger.
“There is a lot of noise around the strengthening of sanctions against Russia, which is accused of using hackers, murderers and other provocateurs abroad, as well as suppressing dissent within the country. However, in a moment of anger, it is worth stopping and thinking about the fact that in one critical aspect the sanctions made Russia stronger”, – the article says
“Now Russia has low external debts and enough resources to cover them. For comparison, short-term external debts account for only 10% of Russian foreign exchange reserves, while in other developing countries – more than 30%”.
It is noted that Russia has also become less tied to the global oil market, as it retains excess profits when prices rise and spends them when prices fall, stabilizing the economy and the ruble, which is less prone to fluctuations from changes in hydrocarbon prices than the currencies of other exporting countries – for example Canada and Norway.
Also, Russia, like China, nurtures its technology companies “behind closed doors”, protecting them from competition from abroad. In addition, the publication emphasizes that the “import substitution” strategy really works in the food sector.