What follows is my English translation of an article by Megas Alexandros published on ComeDonChisciotte.org yesterday, 7th May 2024 (formatting original, except for my emphasis in bold and cursive).
IMF: “Russia will beat the U.S. and major European economies” - GDP will grow by 3.2% - surpassed only by China (+4.6%) and India (+6.8%). Meanwhile Putin signs the decree [for] the transfer of Russian subsidiaries of Ariston and Bosh under temporary management to Gazprom. Sanctions imposed since the beginning of the war are turning into a disastrous boomerang for the Eurozone.
At the beginning of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, it seemed that the collapse of the Russian economic system – by virtue of what were portrayed to us as unbearable sanctions on Russia enforced by Western countries – was a matter of hours.
Then, as that prediction was slow to come true, prominent and mainstream political figures tried to convince us, day after day, that the collapse of Russia and Putin would be the next day.
Two years after the war began, we are still here, waiting for that tomorrow to come!
Indeed, to be fair, the numbers coming to us – not from the Kremlin but from the main body that most works to keep alive the colonizing instinct that has always been present in the West's chromosomes – tell us a different story.
It is precisely the International Monetary Fund (IMF), flagship of the United States (with Europe attached) that confirms that despite sanctions, Russia's GDP continues to run. According to its estimates, Moscow could grow by 3.2% in 2024, outpacing all other advanced economies in the Western world: from the United States (+2.7%), to the United Kingdom (+0.5%), Germany (+0.2%), France (+0.7%), Italy (+0.7%) and Spain (+1.9%). [1]
Russia – again according to what the body [IMF] chaired by Bulgarian economist Kristina Georgieva tells us – would be third this year only to the GDP of the economies of China (+4.6%) and India (+6.8%). Two countries – referred to as emerging countries – with high-growth economies that are worth mentioning: today they represent the main trade and strategic partners at the geopolitical level for Putin and his people.
From the Kremlin we hear that Western sanctions on its critical industries have made the country more self-sufficient and that private consumption and domestic investment remain resilient. Increased oil and commodity exports to countries such as India and China and sanction-avoidance mechanisms combined with high oil prices have enabled the country to maintain robust revenues from crude oil exports.
Even the European Commission has had to raise the white flag and admit that sanctions have worked less than they should.
A document on the adoption of the 13th EU sanctions package against Russia, drafted in Brussels, states: “The rapid growth observed in 2023 was recorded mainly in the sectors associated with the military industry complex (metals, transport equipment, computers, electronics, optical devices). The output of these three branches in 2023 was about 30-40% higher than in 2021.” [1-ibid]
Several sources also reveal that sanctions can be easily circumvented through third countries, especially considering that some of them, such as China, Qatar or India, have not implemented them and are in fact helping Russia to circumvent them.
So, sanctions are not working and, moreover, just in the past few days came – unexpected for our [Italian] government – not for those still equipped with the pure logic with which events are analysed – Putin's countermove. The Russian president signed a decree (No. 294, dated 26 April 2024), by which he effectively nationalized the Russian subsidiaries of Ariston and Bosch. The Italian and German companies were transferred to the temporary management of JSC Gazprom Gazprom Household Systems of the Gazprom Group. These are specifically 100 percent of Ariston Thermo Rus LLC, owned by Ariston Holding N.V., and BSH Household Appliances LLC, owned by BSH Hausgerate GmbH.
In the face of sanctions that mostly involve the freezing of Bank of Russia-owned cash reserves operated by the West, the Kremlin is taking our companies and related know-how.
In short, if we really want to put it blatantly: we block their numbers on computers, numbers that the Russian Central Bank can easily recreate itself with the blink of a “click”; on the other hand, we lose real companies that are part of our national technological heritage, the fruit of generations of work.
And also on the blocking of foreign exchange reserves, there would be much to say, as in fact I have already said in various articles. Leaving Gazprombank free to operate in the SWIFT payment system – for obvious reasons attributable to the EU's need to obtain Russian gas – in a way it is as if the sanctions do not exist or at least are much watered down compared to what we are being projected.
Not only that, our politicians, clearly in big trouble in the face of public opinion, also have the gall to resent the Russian government's decision.
It is Antonio Tajani – vice president of the Council of Ministers [the Italian cabinet] – who puts himself out there for it, with statements that show not the slightest sense of shame: “After the unexpected decision of the Russian government on the management of Ariston Thermo Group I immediately activated our embassy in Russia and spoke with the top management of the Italian company. The Italian government stands by the companies, ready to protect them in all international markets.”
On behalf of our [Italian] government, the first actor inside the Western world that for the past two years, besides sanctioning Russia, has been at the forefront of sending arms to Ukraine and, as if that was not enough, instigator of our national press that daily insults its President [Putin], Tajani is surprised by the incident and even demands explanations through the same diplomatic channels with which it refuses to engage in dialogue to restore peace on Ukrainian territory.
We are truly faced with the more than brazen claim to superiority that the West, now without any kind of reason whatsoever, continues to want to head over the rest of the world.
Raiffeisen Bank International, Ing, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Otp, but also Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo posted a combined profit of more than 3 billion euros in 2023, paying into the Kremlin's coffers more than 800 million Euros in taxes last year: a figure equal to four times pre-war levels.
And here again, it is not Pravda that tells us this, but rather an investigation by the Financial Times, the flagship newspaper of the Western financial world, reveals it. The profits are three times those of 2021 and were partly generated by the funds that banks cannot withdraw from the country. [2]
If you allow me an assessment of the Russian government's ability to understand economic matters and modern monetary systems, I can safely say that Putin and his ministers, are in a different category than our rulers.
Just the fact that they have understood the desirability of not nationalizing deposit-producing commercial banks (currency), as opposed to companies producing goods and services, is certifying that in Russia they have perfectly understood that currency, besides not being scarce, is a commodity, the production of which does not require any kind of special know-how.
In conclusion, for those who still have the arrogance to lead us, sanctions on Russia even today will be effective... tomorrow!
Thanks for the translation!
WHO exactly won the peace after the "cold war"?