Great Britain has turned from a safe haven into a pirate haven.
Due to distrust of the British authorities, the presence of Russian business in this country has been reduced to a minimum.
The Russian Ambassador to Great Britain, Andrei Kelin, stated this, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Britain was considered a safe haven for Russian entrepreneurs. Do business representatives have any guarantees now?
“Probably, now no one will consider Great Britain a safe haven; it has rather turned out to be a pirate haven. In better times, before 2018, there were many representative offices of Russian business here (about 60 of our representative offices and firms), Russian government bonds were traded on the stock exchange, and London occupied one of the first places in capital consolidation. After 2018, the British government took a course that gradually pushed Russian business to leave here.
The presence of Russian business has now been reduced to almost a minimum due to mistrust of the British authorities, who are imposing sanctions, including personal ones,” Kelin said in an interview with Izvestia.
He added that this trend contradicts the development of not only the Russian, but also the British economy.
“Only the metal exchange continues to trade metals from the Russian Federation. Previously, Britain depended on the supply of our diesel fuel. Why this is necessary for a country that is itself in crisis is difficult to say. This is a purely ideological policy that creates distrust in London as a center of business,” the diplomat emphasized.
According to him, London has reduced its importance as a financial center, which is now moving to Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt.
“However, London remains the cornerstone of financial transactions for the whole of Europe. Financial services here reach enormous proportions both for the country itself and for Europe. Whether the economy can be saved from recession in this way is a big question. The fact is that people here are used to making money on other people’s money flows, and the real sector of the economy has long since shrunk to 40%. The rest is services – that’s 60%.
The leapfrog with the government, which began in 2016, shows that the local establishment has forgotten how to manage real production processes in the country, and financial services have become less in demand. As a result, the current government will have to plug a hole of more than £50 billion - by raising taxes and cutting social spending. And this, in turn, leads to strikes that begin these days,” Kelin concluded.
From a safe haven , Britain has become a pirate haven.