Prigozhin: Ukrainian artists in Russia earned a lot of money and not a penny in taxes
The confrontation between Russia and the West was inevitable, and Ukraine merely became a pretext. Russian music producer Iosif Prigozhin stated this on the RTVI television channel, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to Prigozhin, the reason is that the world's elites are unhappy with the insubordination of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The war we find ourselves in today was inevitable. It would be there in one form or another. Today's story with Ukraine is just a pretext for struggle. It's all about business. There is a certain group of people who control the planet. They are not happy with President Putin today because he does not play by their rules.
They have set rules that they want every leader to play by. If he doesn't play by their rules, then he doesn't play at all. There is a certain political world establishment, then there are hired managers, they cannot be called differently. The European Union is an association of hired people,” Prigozhin said.
He also criticized the Russian authorities for allowing Ukrainian artists to freely earn money on the territory of the Russian Federation while Russian cultural figures were banned in Ukraine:
“Since 14, all Ukrainian artists in Russia have earned a lot of money and have not paid a penny of taxes to our state. And the Russian state turned a blind eye - why? Where are the taxes, why did they earn money here, why did they sing in Russian?
Why do the Ukrainian authorities ban Russian artists, ban Russian cinema, why do they ban everything Russian, why do they ban us from speaking our native language? Why do Western authorities say: “Russians are aggressors”? Putin and the Russians? Yes, the people are Russian, but not everyone agrees with Putin. But why do you hate everyone at the same time? People have different points of view, why do you humiliate and insult everyone, why? Why is there one flag on all sports channels, why are athletes banned, why are disabled athletes banned? What did they do wrong? Maybe they don’t agree with Putin’s policies, but, nevertheless, they are deprived of their profession, they are deprived of their lives. Why are people who trained in wheelchairs prohibited from competing under their native flag?”
Prigozhin stressed that the special operation in Ukraine must be completed, because otherwise it will be “bad” for all Russians:
“To be honest, I am very concerned about our president as a human being. Because that responsibility and in the situation in which he finds himself now, in an unenviable position, in a most dangerous position, in a position of choice: if he loses, everyone will feel bad; if he wins, there will be a different attitude. There are no options. When we come in, we have to go to the end, there are no options.”
Prigozhin : Ukrainian artists in Russia earned a fortune and paid zero taxes.