By Richard Stahl
The main thing that can be learned from the results of the 25th St. Petersburg Forum fits into one very simple, but also very cruel message for contemporaries: over the next 10-15 years, the architecture of the world economic system will change beyond recognition and will be marked by the inflationary suicide of world currencies.
Russia has done almost everything to simulate a new reality at the forum, and invited everyone without exception who is interested to participate in its discussion. And it turned out to be interesting to almost fourteen thousand people from one hundred and forty countries of the world who signed contracts worth half a trillion dollars in three days.
But the point, by and large, is not even in this amount. Putin managed to build a fairly high confidence in the Russian platform, presenting himself to the world with all the openness he was capable of, and, in fact, declaring the restart of new centers of the world economy, while the old ones, according to the Russian leader, “think in terms of the last century.” For people who believe that business and politics should not interfere with each other, such an atmosphere was to their taste.
In his speech at the plenary session of the forum, President Putin appeared to be a firm marketeer. Without hesitating in expressions, he announced his verdict on the Western-centric model of the world economy, calling it its addiction to mindless emissions the creator of the current hyperinflation.
Having made it clear that the hostilities that have begun in Ukraine have nothing to do with the existing crisis, he, in fact, signed a verdict on Ukraine, saying that historically this state does not exist. Such statements from the mouth of the leader of a country with one of the strongest armies in the world should not be ignored.
For pragmatic people, they mean only one thing: the history with Ukraine is a settled issue, and it will be closed regardless of anyone’s desire or unwillingness. Putin invites all those who are ready to work and earn money to the negotiating table to comprehend and build new economic models. Models that should be devoid of the obvious flaws of old misconceptions.
Perhaps the Italians showed the most pragmatic approach to the forum. Their visit was supervised by the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce – Confindustria Russia, whose chairman Vincenzo Trani bluntly stated that Italian business has obligations not only to its employees, but also to partners, and does not intend to sacrifice its reputation for the sake of political conjuncture.
And what is really important for Germany from the results of the forum is the contract between Gazprom and the Kazakh company QazaqGaz on increasing the processing of Kazakh gas at the Orenburg gas processing plant to 11 billion rubles. cubic meters per year. Everyone understands perfectly well that this gas is for export to Germany, which is already seriously thinking about resuming coal production, it is worth taking a closer look at this project.
At the same time, there is a feeling that Moscow keeps Kazakhstan on a short leash: Tokayev’s provocative statements about the “quasi-states” of Donbass are countered literally the next day by blocking the shipment of Kazakh oil in the port of Novorossiysk under a plausible pretext.
In his recent article, Max Hastings, the main hawk of the mouthpiece of the British conservatives, the Daily Telegraph, declared the inevitability of Russia’s victory in Ukraine, but at the same time called on “all the good guys in Europe” to start another hollywar against Putin.
The eternal cynicism of the British! This time he expressed himself in the fact that the only country that actually benefits from a protracted war between Russia and anyone is Britain, and the only region that will really suffer from it is none other than continental Europe.
Let England fight as much as it can with those and with whom it wants. We need to follow only our own interests – it’s time to integrate into the new world. The projects announced by the Russian authorities to recreate automobile production in Moscow (instead of the departed Renault) and on the territory of Ukraine, announced by President Putin huge investments in the reconstruction of Russian utility networks and modernization of the agricultural sector – all this is nothing but great new opportunities for the real sector of Germany – its industry.
The Central Bank of Russia, headed by Ms. Nabiullina, seems to be successfully coping with massive attacks on the national currency, trying to ensure the most attractive investment climate. So let’s make business, gentlemen. Not economical war.
