Russia has no intention of shutting down its economy, as the Soviet Union did at the time. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this on the eve of “St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
This is an annual trade event of the economic sector in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, in which more than 10,000 people from more than 120 different countries participate. Among them are top executives from Russian and international companies, heads of state and politicians.
Putin says there will be no iron curtain over the Russian economy, despite the sanctions imposed by the West after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions caused Russia’s worst economic downturn in the post-Soviet years in 1991.
Young Entrepreneurs
“We don’t want a closed economy,” Putin said during a televised meeting with young entrepreneurs, after being asked about potential deals with partners like China and India. “We didn’t have one in the past and we won’t have one in the future.”
“Or still, we had a closed economy in the days of the Soviet Union,” he quickly corrected. “Then we cut ourselves off and created the so-called Iron Curtain with our own hands. We will not make that mistake again. Our economy will remain open.”
Since many large Western companies and investors have left Russia in the meantime, Moscow now wants to develop its own industries and partnerships with China, India and the Middle East. “A country like Russia cannot shut you down,” Putin stressed.
catastrophe
Putin was born in the days of the Soviet Union and had previously described its collapse as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century”. Tens of millions of Russians fell into poverty and the Soviet empire collapsed.
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