Putin's "lie" exposed: how Russia's economy really is

Created: 07/28/2022, 14:04

By: Tobias Utz

The Russian economy is suffering from Western sanctions.

The pressure on Vladimir Putin is growing.

Moscow – Ever since the international community, primarily the US and the EU, imposed sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has been trying to assert domestic sovereignty.

In the first place, the West hurts itself the most.

Russia will get through the crisis better than others, Putin has emphasized several times.

Scientists from Yale University have now examined how the Russian economy is actually doing in the wake of the sanctions.

The result is “devastating”, as the researchers put it in their study.

"The assumption that the Russian economy is particularly resilient is simply a lie," they said in the journal

.

News on the Ukraine war: "Sanctions are having a devastating effect on Russia's economy"

The study at Yale University was based on data that was collected independently.

The researchers emphasized that the numbers from Moscow cannot be trusted.

Among other things, the scientists examined how auditing firms and international trading partners of Russia assessed the economic situation.

In addition, data on per capita consumption were evaluated.

The army has already raised a Russian flag in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

© Viktor Antonyuk / Imago Images

More than 1,000 foreign companies have already left Russia.

Gross domestic product (GDP) has suffered by more than 40 percent since the sanctions began.

According to the researchers, two factors play a central role: on the one hand, production has “come to a standstill” and, on the other hand, there is currently no capacity to replace “lost companies, products and talents”.

Both the import and export business are suffering from the sanctions.

News about the Ukraine war

Putin is struggling with increased pressure in Russia

Putin is currently reacting to the economic chaos with state subsidies, the scientists explained in the study.

That tears an enormous hole in the Russian state budget.

"The Kremlin's finances are in much worse shape than previously thought."

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Data from the European Commission recently confirmed that the sanctions imposed by the West are having an effect in Russia: the authorities in Brussels confirmed to the

that the export business in particular has been massively curbed.

Reserves of the Russian central bank worth billions were also frozen.

"The available data shows very clearly that the sanctions are working," said a senior EU official, who asked not to be identified.

News about the Ukraine war: Russia is being forced into a new economic system

The EU Commission further stated that Russia must now develop into a self-sufficiency economy.

Putin was forced to make this change by the sanctions.

The authority in Brussels emphasized that the lack of access to foreign technologies and growing difficulties in the supply chains are likely to pose challenges for the Russian state.

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