“To guarantee the supply of weapons and ammunition, it is necessary to optimize the work,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told the State Duma on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times. The phrase came at the same time as the State Duma presented a bill to take over the management of companies to cover an increasing military need. One bill will enable the government to force private companies to change production against what the defense needs. – Russia has carried out a special military operation under enormous sanctions pressure, said Borisov, who added that it will primarily apply to suppliers to the defense industry. Another proposal aims for the state to take over the management of working hours, so that workers may have to sacrifice weekends and holidays to work overtime. – These are totalitarian tendencies, where the state demanded that the citizens should contribute further to Russian warfare. The question is whether Russia will be able to call this a “military special operation” so much longer, says head teacher at the Staff College, Tom Røseth. Russian workers fix helicopter for state-owned defense group Rostec. Photo: SERGEY PIVOVAROV / Reuters Lack of critical goods – In practice, this is a country at full war, Røseth adds. Workers in the Russian defense industry have previously expressed anger over miserable wages and working conditions, according to the Jerusalem Post. Putin has at the same time denied the medium and politicians in calling the invasion of Ukraine a war, but rather refer to it as “a military special operation”. – Russia is an authoritarian country, with more and more totalitarian tendencies, says head teacher at the Staff School, Tom Røseth. Photo: The Armed Forces Still, not everyone believes him, and several men have emigrated to neighboring countries for fear of being drafted into the Russian military, writes Reuters. According to Røseth, the bill is a sign that Western sanctions have begun to burn for the Russian defense industry. Going forward, there is a particular shortage of semiconductors and microchips that could make it difficult for the Russian military, he says. – A modern tank has lots of such semiconductors. Lack of these takes the Russian military many years back in time, he says. The Russians have lost so many tanks that they have brought in old ones that are in stock. Photo: RU.MIL Good income despite sanctions The bill is happening at the same time as Russia is subject to several strong sanctions packages from the EU and the USA, where the country is isolated from important markets. The Russian economy as a whole is still doing well. The current account is 3.5 times larger than in the same period last year, reports the Russian central bank, partly due to the fact that Russia does not import as many goods. The Ukraine war dominated much of the G20 summit on Friday. As Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov greeted Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, slogans were shouted against Russian warfare. Photo: RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / Reuters Since Russia’s invasion in February, the country has invested more than NOK 650 billion in fossil fuels, from European countries alone, according to the research center CREA. – The idea was to crush the Russian economy. That has not happened openly, Putin said, referring to the value of the ruble at a conference in St. Petersburg in mid-June. Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV / Reuters – The problem with the sanctions is that they have helped drive energy prices to heaven. For an energy exporter like Russia, this is good news, says economics professor at UiB, Kjell-Erik Lommerud. The Russian ruble has been through a valuable roller coaster since the invasion in February. Nevertheless, the ruble is the currency that has done best this year and the central bank has lowered the key interest rate to overcome a rising ruble. Cannibalizing aircraft parts – Putin is still not entirely right when he refers to the value of the ruble to assess the state of the Russian economy, says economics professor Lommerud. Russia is rich in natural resources, but produces little of all the goods it needs. If Russia does not import goods such as packaging, components, microchips and other technical equipment for, for example, petroleum activities, not only will the military struggle. The head of the Russian central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, has urged Russian industry to orient itself towards the internal market. She got a lot of credit for the ruble rising again after the invasion of Ukraine. Photo: OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP Large parts of the Russian economy will also have to stop. According to Gazprom, there is a lack of components which means that the Nord Stream gas pipeline had to cut gas flow to Europe. In the absence of imported parts, the Russian aviation industry has already begun to “cannibalize” and take parts from other aircraft, in order to keep air traffic going. – What ultimately matters is how GDP develops over time. If Russia does not obtain the necessary goods, large parts of the activity may have to stop. It will have major consequences, says Lommerud. The Russian replacement for McDonalds has run out of french fries. After McDonald’s left Russia, there have been national attempts to establish Russian versions of the fast food giant. Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
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Russia wants to force business to meet military needs – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
