- Joined
- Aug 26, 2019
- Messages
- 3,395
- Points
- 288
EU laws need some reworking to be able to act despite the fifth columns sponsored by Russia and China.
Warfare Russia/Ukraine War
- Thread starter morris
- Start date
- Featured
EU laws need some reworking to be able to act despite the fifth columns sponsored by Russia and China.
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2019
- Messages
- 3,395
- Points
- 288
RussiaTwo-class medicine through import ban (Article from 2015)
Since the beginning of August, the Russian authorities have been resorting to drastic measures to enforce the ban on imports of Western foodstuffs. The negative consequences are felt by the population: poorer quality and higher prices. The import ban is now being extended to the medical sector - with fatal consequences for sick people without a large budget.
Medicines prescribed free of charge will no longer be available in Russia from the West.
The list of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade includes more than 100 items. These include X-ray machines, artificial heart valves and crutches, as well as mattresses, bandages and condoms. In the future, the Russian state is to import all these medical items from Western countries only if it cannot also obtain them in the Eurasian Economic Union. In other words, in Russia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan or Belarus. The plans do not affect the private sector.
Opposition to the ministry's draft is mounting. Representatives of major Russian charitable foundations have written to Prime Minister Medvedev asking him not to further restrict imports of Western medicines, remedies and equipment. They say it goes against the interests of patients. The quality of Russian products is inferior, sometimes even dangerous for patients, the letter says. The authors cite examples: Russian dressings cause wounds to fester; mattresses made in the Eurasian Economic Union could promote bedsores.
Those who can afford it have so far mostly bought Western medical equipment and corresponding medicines in Russia.
Valeri Kovtun lives with a ventilator. He has a thrombus in his lung. After an operation, he is dependent on oxygen supply around the clock. He has two devices, a large one for home, a small one for on the road. One is made in Germany, the other in Japan. Together, the devices would have cost about 5,000 euros, Kovtun says.
"There are also devices from China. They cost a quarter or a third as much. We have also only bought one Chinese device. In less than six months, it broke down three times."
Free medicines mainly from Russian production
He has not heard of Russian devices. According to Anna Semlyanukhina, a Moscow physician, the replacement of Western preparations and equipment in state clinics has already begun. Semlyanukhina is a general practitioner at a city polyclinic. This is the first port of call for anyone seeking free medical care.
"For the past year or so, the medicines we have been prescribing free of charge to the sick have been mainly Russian-made. Doctors and patients have noticed differences. Patients who previously had stable blood pressure no longer have it since they started taking Russian generics. Asthmatics have more frequent attacks when they take Russian preparations. Many then prefer to go to the pharmacy and buy what helps them: the usual imported products. But especially old people with their small pensions can't afford that."
The doctor cites another example: blood glucose meters. Diabetics receive free test strips for the devices at the polyclinic. Semlyanukhina:
"In the past, of course, we advised them to buy the most accurate meters: Foreign ones. Now we don't have test strips for them. Patients have to switch to Russian devices, or buy the test strips themselves."
Germany Trade & Invest, the economic development agency of the Federal Republic of Germany, confirms the Moscow doctor's information. In a statement, it says German manufacturers of medical technology and medical consumables are already finding it increasingly difficult to obtain supply contracts from the public health sector in Russia. The German development agency also confirms what has so far only been rumored unofficially in Russia: That state-owned enterprises in Russia, if they cannot purchase items in the Eurasian Economic Union, will next prefer products from those countries that have not joined the sanctions against Russia: mainly China, Korea and Turkey.
Russian pharmaceutical industry to be developed
The Russian government justifies the import ban on Western medicine by saying it wants to develop the domestic pharmaceutical industry. Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodez, who is responsible for health policy, has announced favorable loans and other support measures for pharmaceutical companies in Russia.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Since the beginning of August, the Russian authorities have been resorting to drastic measures to enforce the ban on imports of Western foodstuffs. The negative consequences are felt by the population: poorer quality and higher prices. The import ban is now being extended to the medical sector - with fatal consequences for sick people without a large budget.
Medicines prescribed free of charge will no longer be available in Russia from the West.
The list of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade includes more than 100 items. These include X-ray machines, artificial heart valves and crutches, as well as mattresses, bandages and condoms. In the future, the Russian state is to import all these medical items from Western countries only if it cannot also obtain them in the Eurasian Economic Union. In other words, in Russia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan or Belarus. The plans do not affect the private sector.
Opposition to the ministry's draft is mounting. Representatives of major Russian charitable foundations have written to Prime Minister Medvedev asking him not to further restrict imports of Western medicines, remedies and equipment. They say it goes against the interests of patients. The quality of Russian products is inferior, sometimes even dangerous for patients, the letter says. The authors cite examples: Russian dressings cause wounds to fester; mattresses made in the Eurasian Economic Union could promote bedsores.
Those who can afford it have so far mostly bought Western medical equipment and corresponding medicines in Russia.
Valeri Kovtun lives with a ventilator. He has a thrombus in his lung. After an operation, he is dependent on oxygen supply around the clock. He has two devices, a large one for home, a small one for on the road. One is made in Germany, the other in Japan. Together, the devices would have cost about 5,000 euros, Kovtun says.
"There are also devices from China. They cost a quarter or a third as much. We have also only bought one Chinese device. In less than six months, it broke down three times."
Free medicines mainly from Russian production
He has not heard of Russian devices. According to Anna Semlyanukhina, a Moscow physician, the replacement of Western preparations and equipment in state clinics has already begun. Semlyanukhina is a general practitioner at a city polyclinic. This is the first port of call for anyone seeking free medical care.
"For the past year or so, the medicines we have been prescribing free of charge to the sick have been mainly Russian-made. Doctors and patients have noticed differences. Patients who previously had stable blood pressure no longer have it since they started taking Russian generics. Asthmatics have more frequent attacks when they take Russian preparations. Many then prefer to go to the pharmacy and buy what helps them: the usual imported products. But especially old people with their small pensions can't afford that."
The doctor cites another example: blood glucose meters. Diabetics receive free test strips for the devices at the polyclinic. Semlyanukhina:
"In the past, of course, we advised them to buy the most accurate meters: Foreign ones. Now we don't have test strips for them. Patients have to switch to Russian devices, or buy the test strips themselves."
Germany Trade & Invest, the economic development agency of the Federal Republic of Germany, confirms the Moscow doctor's information. In a statement, it says German manufacturers of medical technology and medical consumables are already finding it increasingly difficult to obtain supply contracts from the public health sector in Russia. The German development agency also confirms what has so far only been rumored unofficially in Russia: That state-owned enterprises in Russia, if they cannot purchase items in the Eurasian Economic Union, will next prefer products from those countries that have not joined the sanctions against Russia: mainly China, Korea and Turkey.
Russian pharmaceutical industry to be developed
The Russian government justifies the import ban on Western medicine by saying it wants to develop the domestic pharmaceutical industry. Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodez, who is responsible for health policy, has announced favorable loans and other support measures for pharmaceutical companies in Russia.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
- Joined
- May 6, 2019
- Messages
- 1,049
- Points
- 169
Bavovniatko is active again: Something is now detonating in Shakhtorsk, ~50 km from the front line
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2019
- Messages
- 8,993
- Points
- 284
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2019
- Messages
- 8,993
- Points
- 284
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2019
- Messages
- 8,993
- Points
- 284
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2019
- Messages
- 8,993
- Points
- 284
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2019
- Messages
- 8,993
- Points
- 284
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2019
- Messages
- 8,993
- Points
- 284
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2019
- Messages
- 8,993
- Points
- 284
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2019
- Messages
- 8,993
- Points
- 284
Україна запустила виробництво дефіцитних 152-міліметрових снарядів. Чому тільки зараз?
Чому Міноборони не може відмовитися від “радянських” калібрів, як “Укроборонпром” таємно налагодив виробництво снарядів і чому цього не зробили за вісім років війни?
www.epravda.com.ua
Ukrainian artillery! It is excellently readable even with a translator, and deals in detail with the past, present and future
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2019
- Messages
- 3,395
- Points
- 288
Russian Airstrikes In Ukraine: The ‘Largest Attack’ On Health Care In Europe Since World War II, Says WHO - Health Policy Watch
As the first snows fall across Ukraine, World Health Organization officials in Kyiv warn the coming winter will be “life-threatening for millions” of Ukrainians.
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2019
- Messages
- 7,352
- Points
- 293
Either the Ukrainians will kill them or Putin will because after Prigozhin's actions they've become a threat to the regime.
*Sad violin* ?
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2019
- Messages
- 8,993
- Points
- 284
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2018
- Messages
- 9,480
- Points
- 328
I agree. Post war, who ever is in charge will be putting a target on the back of anyone associated with Wagner.
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2019
- Messages
- 733
- Points
- 198
One of the better write ups on the economic sanctions. Was able to read it whole, but in case others have issues. Great conclusion. The US should definitely move to the "Iran sanctions playbook".Sanctions on Russia Are Working. Here’s Why.
The Kremlin’s ability to wage war is already constrained, but the worst is yet to come.
Sanctions on Russia Are Working. Here’s Why.
The Kremlin’s ability to wage war is already constrained, but the worst is yet to come.foreignpolicy.com
"There have been incessant debates over the effectiveness of sanctions on Russia. Far-right and far-left politicians who traditionally channel Moscow’s views claim they are ineffective and only hurt Europeans. French extreme-right leader Marine Le Pen has called the sanctions “completely useless, except to make Europeans suffer.” In Germany, her views are echoed not only by the right-wing Alternative for Germany but also by prominent Left Party politicians, such as Sahra Wagenknecht. “The sanctions don’t hurt Russia—only us,” she said recently. For these Kremlin-friendly voices, sanctions have done virtually no harm to the Russian economy, which in their view is thriving amid sky-high energy prices. Others who don’t necessarily share Moscow’s views nevertheless argue that sanctions have been a failure because they have not stopped Russian President Vladimir Putin from escalating his attacks on Ukraine.
This narrative serves the Kremlin’s interests. With winter fast approaching, Putin is betting that sanctions fatigue will soon set in. But a look at the data shows that the people claiming sanctions are ineffective are wrong: Only nine months after the first set of sanctions was imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, they are already weighing on Moscow’s ability to wage war. And this is only the beginning. Sanctions on Russia are more of a marathon than a sprint, and the effectiveness of sanctions will increase over time.
The confusion around the effectiveness of sanctions stems from a lack of clarity about their goals. Western countries never intended to use sanctions to force Putin to back down and pull out of Ukraine; they know that Putin believes he is waging a war for Russia’s survival against a decadent West. Provoking regime change in Moscow is not the objective, either: Sanctions on Cuba, North Korea, and Syria show that this never works, and there is no reason to believe that Putin’s hypothetical successor would change course in Ukraine. Prompting a Venezuela-style collapse of the Russian economy is not the goal, either: This is impossible when the target is the world’s 11th-largest economy. Besides, Russia’s collapse would likely send the global economy into a recession by abruptly halting Russia’s exports of many commodities, including grain, fertilizer, energy, and metals.
What are the goals of Western sanctions on Russia, then? These have never been stated explicitly, but a closer look at sanctions packages implemented by the United States, the European Union, and their allies indicates that they have three objectives. First, Western countries are trying to send a strong signal of resolve and unity to the Kremlin. Second, sanctioning states aim to degrade Russia’s ability to wage war. Third, Western democracies are betting that sanctions will slowly asphyxiate the Russian economy and in particular the country’s energy sector. When judged on the basis of these criteria, sanctions are clearly working.
Western countries are using sanctions to send a message to the Kremlin: Europe and the United States are standing with Ukraine. From that perspective, mission accomplished. Trans-Atlantic collaboration on sanctions has proved strong over the past nine months, with only a few disagreements between Washington and European capitals. This confounded Putin’s likely expectation that the West would remain weak and divided, and there is also every chance that he was surprised by the speed and scale of these measures. It took the United States and the EU only weeks to impose sanctions on thousands of Russian individuals and companies, disconnect several Russian banks from the SWIFT system for international money transfers, and freeze half of the Russian central bank’s reserves.
Sending a diplomatic message is a good start, but the main objective of the sanctions is to degrade Russia’s ability to wage war. Here, too, the measures are working. Despite the Kremlin’s claims to the contrary, sanctions have sent the Russian economy into a deep recession. This impact is notable because sanctions have not yet targeted the country’s energy exports; in fact, Russia’s oil revenues have increased this year due to higher oil prices as a result of the war. Things would be much worse for the Kremlin if energy prices were at their historical average.
Presumably to deny the West transparency over the success of sanctions, the Kremlin has cut back on the release of economic statistics. Nonetheless, the data we have paints a bleak picture. In October, Russia’s GDP was 4.4 percent lower than during the same month in 2021. Industrial production, including oil and gas extraction, was almost 3 percent lower than in 2021. Retail trade has collapsed by nearly 10 percent year on year, highlighting the toll of high inflation. Data for the automotive sector—a bellwether for the health of the economy in Russia as in many other countries—is downright alarming: Russian car companies have slashed production by 64 percent compared with 2021 due to lack of demand and a shortage of imported components. October was not an outlier: The data has been awful in every month since April. Things are not getting better. They probably took a turn for the worse after mobilization began in late September.
Faced with such a difficult economic situation, the Kremlin knows that social stability is at stake. Putin sees public discontent as a threat to his survival—and he may be right. Yet the poor state of the economy means that Russia’s budget is firmly in the red. This is unusual for an energy exporter when commodities prices are at record-high levels. This also signals that trouble is brewing: In the coming months, Moscow will need to solve an impossible equation to finance the war in Ukraine while keeping social subsidies high enough to avoid unrest. (This will be no small feat if a second mobilization happens.) The Kremlin still has reserves, notably from its sovereign wealth fund. Without replenishment, however, these will run dry at some point. Already, the Russian government is living off reserves.
The reach of Western sanctions extends beyond the economic sphere to the technological sector. Here, the United States has an ace up its sleeve: Almost all advanced semiconductors used for electronic and military gear are made using U.S. companies’ know-how. Since the invasion, Washington has been imposing export controls that curb Russian access to microchips. For Moscow, this is an urgent problem, not least because Russian missiles are full of semiconductors the country cannot make itself. Faced with a 90 percent drop in microchip imports, the Kremlin is frantically trying to establish semiconductor smuggling networks. Sanctions are almost never watertight—but any leakage will probably not be enough for Russia to replenish its missile stocks, especially if the war continues unabated in the coming months.
The third and final objective of sanctions is the slow, long-term asphyxiation of the Russian economy. Washington and Brussels seek to achieve this goal by depriving Russian oil and gas firms of Western financing and technology. For Moscow, this is another existential threat: Russian oil and gas fields are being depleted, and new reserves to be tapped are located on or in the Arctic Sea. Developing these fields will require sophisticated Western technology (which will not be supplied) and huge amounts of money (which is in short supply). Sanctions on Russian energy production date back to 2014, when Russia illegally annexed Crimea, and they may well take decades to work. Once they do, they will be the most painful of all the sanctions for Russia because both the economy and fiscal revenues rely on oil and gas extraction.
It is safe to assume that things will only get worse for Moscow. Energy prices have been dropping, with oil prices now below where they were at the start of the war. Further decreases are likely in 2023 as the global economy slows. Starting next year, the EU will stop importing Russian oil. In addition, Russia shot itself in the foot by turning off most of the gas tap to Europe, cutting off the Kremlin’s financial lifeline. Reorienting gas exports to China will take many years and tremendous investments in new infrastructure, since most of Russia’s gas pipelines are routed to serve Europe. Building new pipelines to China would solve this issue, but Beijing is in no rush. Time is on China’s side; the country knows that it will be able to extract more financial concessions from an increasingly desperate Kremlin.
It is safe to assume that things will only get worse for Moscow. Energy prices have been dropping, with oil prices now below where they were at the start of the war. Further decreases are likely in 2023 as the global economy slows. Starting next year, the EU will stop importing Russian oil. In addition, Russia shot itself in the foot by turning off most of the gas tap to Europe, cutting off the Kremlin’s financial lifeline. Reorienting gas exports to China will take many years and tremendous investments in new infrastructure, since most of Russia’s gas pipelines are routed to serve Europe. Building new pipelines to China would solve this issue, but Beijing is in no rush. Time is on China’s side; the country knows that it will be able to extract more financial concessions from an increasingly desperate Kremlin.
To make matters worse for Putin, Western countries have not exhausted all the options in their sanctions arsenal. Still at their disposal are three measures from the Iran sanctions playbook. Washington and Brussels could cut all Russian banks off from SWIFT, which would send the country into financial isolation. The United States could also ban Russia from using the U.S. dollar, greatly complicating energy exports. And the most powerful option, U.S. secondary sanctions, would force all companies, whether foreign or domestic, to choose between the Russian and U.S. markets. Buying Russian oil or gas would be outlawed worldwide, seriously harming the Kremlin’s finances. Not only are sanctions on Russia working, but the worst for the Kremlin is probably yet to come."
Similar threads
