Putin is driving Russia into the abyss in the gas dispute: "Thoroughly paralyzed"

Created: 08/03/2022, 11:35 am

By: Jens Kiffmeier

Blackout and cold apartments: Germany is trembling in the gas crisis before winter.

But Putin's export ban hurts Russia more.

That shows a new study.

Moscow/Berlin – Standstill of domestic production, flight of 1000 foreign investors and loss of five million jobs: The sanctions of the European Union (EU) against Russia in the Ukraine war are having an effect.

According to a study by the Yale School of Management, the punitive measures taken against the Kremlin "thoroughly paralyzed the Russian economy at all levels".

The gas crisis conjured up by President Vladimir Putin is doing much more harm to Russia than to Europe – and in the long term.

Because other buyers now have the Kremlin boss completely in their hands, as reported by kreiszeitung.de.

Gas crisis in Germany: sanctions against Russia are working – according to the Yale study, Europe has the upper hand

The Yale report met with great interest in Germany and Europe.

An economic war has been raging between East and West for weeks because of the Ukraine conflict.

In response to the EU's severe sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently cut natural gas exports to Europe by 20 percent.

In Europe, which is 40 percent dependent on Russia for its energy supply, fears of power blackouts, economic losses and cold apartments in winter are now spreading.

Only on Monday did EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warn EU citizens of "bad consequences".

Has less leverage in the gas crisis: Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

© Patrick Pleul/Mikhail Klimentyev/dpa

But Western politics seems to have the upper hand.

"Russia depends much more on Europe than Europe depends on Russia," write the authors of the new study.

For the 118-page analysis, the experts evaluated data from companies, banks and trading partners of Russian companies.

There has recently been much speculation as to whether the Russian economy is doing much better than expected despite the sanctions.

But the Yale report does away with this view.

Sanctions against Russia: Putin is feeling the effects - but what does that mean for the gas crisis in Germany?

According to the information, the billions in revenue from oil and natural gas exports that has been achieved so far cannot compensate for the losses.

In addition to the slump in sales and investment, Russia has recorded a decline in retail and consumer spending of up to 20 percent.

Russia is trying to circumvent the embargo and boycott, which is considered the EU's strongest weapon in the fight against Putin, via friendly states.

But industrial production is almost completely at an end.

The study cites the car industry as a drastic example: Due to a lack of spare parts, sales of cars have fallen from 100,000 to 27,000 a month.

Even tanks have to be repaired with spare parts from kitchen appliances.

The loss of traditional industry now makes Russia even more dependent on oil and gas revenues.

After export profits accounted for more than half of state revenues in recent years, the proportion is now likely to have increased even more, the Yale experts write.

Because of this, Putin, whose state of health continues to be the subject of heated speculation, cannot afford a permanent gas crisis.

So far, 83 percent of Russian exports have gone to Europe.

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Because of the disrupted supply chains, the Kremlin had recently been looking for new business partners in Asia, Africa and South America - and in some cases found them.

However, this does not seem to create an equal balance in the long term.

Because buyers like India or China are negotiating massive price reductions because of Russia's emergency situation.

And it is also not possible to export adequate amounts of gas and oil to the East in a hurry, because the pipeline infrastructure for this has not yet been developed, as Russia expert Michael Rochlitz recently pointed out in an interview with

, and Russia plays a role as China's Junior partner certified.

Gas crisis in Germany: Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) wants independence from Russia

Against this background, the EU needs one thing above all: more staying power than Putin.

But it remains to be seen whether people will pull their weight in the economic war.

As a major European industrial nation, Germany in particular is extremely dependent on Russian gas.

Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is currently trying by all means to secure the energy supply, with new supply contracts, the export of liquid gas and extending the life of nuclear power plants is no longer sacrosanct.

also read

Because of Putin: the President of Poland raises the most serious allegations against ex-Chancellor Merkel - "I was stunned"

Putin's "lie" exposed: how the Russian economy is really doing

But will the Germans go along with you when the apartment is cold in winter?

The study from Yale provides at least a motivational aid.

Because Putin has the worse hand in gas poker.

That's for sure now.