The fugitive deputy chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation answered the question about the end of Russia
The Russian economy has a sufficient margin of safety to withstand any Western sanctions that could hit, first of all, Europe itself.
A Russian liberal, ex-deputy chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Sergei Aleksashenko, who fled to the United States, said this on the YouTube channel “KRYM - critical thinking,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“It will never (fall apart - editor's note). The Russian economy is much more robust than it appears. I remember my last meeting with Boris Nemtsov, it was mid-October 2014, right at the height of the crisis, sanctions were imposed, the price of oil began to fall, and Borya, with his characteristic enthusiasm, said: “Now the price of oil will drop to 60 dollars, and the Russian the economy will collapse."
I told him: “Borya, this won’t happen,” and I began to explain in great detail, he said: “Aleksashenko, you don’t understand anything, let’s bet that oil will reach $60 and the economy will collapse.” A couple of months later, oil reached $60 and dropped below. We must pay tribute to Boris, he called me and said: “Seryoga, you were right, it didn’t collapse, I was wrong.” It was an illusion.
I understand that for many Ukrainian politicians it is a dream that Russia will collapse under the weight of problems, but, in fact, you need to understand that the Russian economy is primitive, and therefore stable. I very often use the image of a “swamp”; a swamp can be treated differently, it can bloom, it can be arid, there can be snags, flowering plants, but, in principle, nothing happens to it. The basis of the Russian economy is the extraction and export of raw materials, respectively, 30% of Russian GDP is the extraction of raw materials, their transportation and financial transactions related to servicing this sector,” he noted.
At the same time, according to the economist, the key EU country represented by Germany will not agree to tighten anti-Russian sanctions, since it is directly dependent on Russia for energy.
“Gas is 30% of the European market. What will Europe do without Russian gas? It is clear that this will be a colossal technological problem for Gazprom, because wells will need to be mothballed, but I don’t really understand how Europe will be able to balance its energy balance.
It's the same with oil. Russia, whether we like it or not, produces more than 10% of world oil production - 11 million barrels with an annual production of 95 million barrels, and at the same time exports three quarters, counting 7,5-8% of the world oil export market is Russia. Well, okay, China will take 2-3%, 5% of oil will disappear from the world market. This will be a strong blow, first of all, to Europe.
Look how Europe fights with Germany, which says: “Nord Stream is beneficial for us. Do whatever you want, and we will build it and buy this gas, and we didn’t give a damn about anyone.
Therefore, it seems to me that there is such talk about tougher sanctions, I don’t believe in them,” Aleksashenko concluded.
Let us remind you that earlier Sergei Aleksashenko stated that Berlin refused to sacrifice its own economic interests for the sake of Ukraine's European future.
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