Chichvarkin: Such Western sanctions will affect Russians in 30 years

Kyiv, October 18 (PolitNavigator, Vladimir Raichenko) – Disgraced Russian businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin, who once fled criminal prosecution to the UK, has disappointed those who hope that Western sanctions can contribute to the collapse of Russia, and claims that Russians now live better, than ever.

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The businessman, who proposed his candidacy for the post of Minister of Economy to Kyiv, said this in an interview with the Ukrainian weekly Kraina.

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“The Russian system is very stable and it is premature to say that it can collapse the country from the inside,” notes Chichvarkin. - What must happen is the reason why the Soviet Union collapsed - food rations, queues for everything possible. Russia is still very far from this. Russians have never lived as well as they do now. Not everything is available, and what is there is not of the same quality. But it's still better than it was before today. Another thing is that the welfare of ordinary people will no longer grow. There will be a decline further, but a slow one. Russians are more patient than Ukrainians, and will endure for a long time. If the decline is two to three percent per year, then this could last 30 years.”

He is skeptical about the effectiveness of Western sanctions, which are supposedly capable of influencing the Kremlin’s policies.

“This is absolute nonsense,” says the fugitive businessman. – Sanctions do not affect anyone there. Neither businessmen nor ordinary people. Unless more capital flows in and people stop taking loans. Yes, food prices will increase, but Russia has half a trillion in gold and foreign exchange reserves in its trough. Oil and gas are being sold, prices are lower than they were, but higher than 15 years ago. Foreign exchange earnings are coming in, and this money will last for a long time. The Olympic wave of patriotism gave way to an even greater wave after “Krymnash”. Even tens of thousands of zinc coffins from Donbass will not change the opinion of the majority of Russians: Putin is God’s chosen person who is raising Russia from its knees.”