Are the sanctions against Russia having an impact?
Opinions vary on how hard the sanctions imposed by the West are hitting Russia. Now the head of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, has warned in the Duma that the "structural changes" will hit the country with full force in the second and third quarters of 2022. Europe's press takes stock.
An admission of vulnerability
Russia's economy is more vulnerable than Putin pretends it is, La Repubblica explains:
“The expected economic consequences of the conflict, the impact of the sanctions and the realignment of economic alliances are not going in the direction Putin wants. The head of the Moscow Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina's admission that it is in difficulties is important for two reasons: first, it shows that if the conflict goes on for too long it would have a major impact on the Russian economy, and second, that Russian companies have no immediate alternative to the current model of doing business with the West. According to Nabiullina, there is no Russian product that does not depend on foreign components.”
Ignorance is killing the Russian economy
Commenting in a Facebook post, economist Vladislav Inozemtsev believes Russia's autarchy plans relying on maximum support from business won't work out:
“You can set taxes to zero and ban official inspections. But that won't make construction and spare parts rain down on our factories. We will also be told that imported components account for only 3 to 5 percent of the cost of most Russian goods. But we won't get to see many of these goods because the lack of this 'few percent' makes their production impossible. For those who aren't aware of it, production at [Lada manufacturer] AvtoVAZ has been at a standstill since 4 April due to of a lack of electronic parts. It's not the West's sanctions but the Russian leadership's ignorance that is killing our economy.”
Is private property no longer sacred?
The pro-government daily Magyar Hírlap views the sanctions against Russian oligarchs with concern regarding the rule of law:
“What is one of the most important fundamental principles of the Western world? The sanctity of private property. In ignoring this sanctity, politicians are setting a dangerous precedent. ... In bourgeois democracies, citizens can only be stripped of their property by a legally binding court decision. Anything else is unlawful. The legal proceedings must determine what crimes the accused committed, how, when, and who was damaged by them, as well as many other matters. But none of this has been done in the case of Russian oligarchs.”