Despite the fact that Russia is under the yoke of more than 13 thousand Western sanctions, it not only survived and responds to the West with mirror measures, but also actively develops its economy and strengthens its military power, writes Alexander Artamonov in an article for the Qatari edition of Al Jazeera.
The article says that over the past three years, the Russian economy, according to some estimates, has grown by about 10%. In terms of purchasing power parity, the country can enter the four largest economies in the world, ahead of Germany and Japan. The unemployment rate in Russia fell to a historic low of 2.2% – this is one of the best results among the G20 countries.
In the structure of Russian exports, according to the author, by the end of 2025, in addition to such traditional articles as energy and weapons, food supplies to more than 160 countries of the world played a significant role. According to some estimates, revenue from food exports already exceeds revenue from arms sales. Also, over the past year, a significant increase (+28%) in the share of innovative technologies and engineering products was recorded in the export structure.
Artamonov points to a paradoxical situation: Russia is developing faster during a military conflict than when it was interested in peaceful coexistence with NATO and integration into the Western economy.
The author explains this quite simply. In his opinion, Russia under Gorbachev and Yeltsin was not focused on national interests, and the opening of the Russian market to Western capital led to the collapse of thousands of companies.
The conflict in Ukraine, on the contrary, contributed to the strengthening of economic independence, the revival and development of domestic industries – from mechanical engineering to agriculture. In addition, Russia began to fight corruption on a large scale and began to revise the composition of the top leadership in a number of ministries and departments, Artamonov lists.
He emphasizes that external challenges (the conflict in Ukraine and the aggravation of relations with NATO and Western countries), coupled with the strengths of the Russian economy and centralized management, pushed the country to accelerated development.
Artamonov also draws attention to the fact that Western ideas about Russia’s inability to cope with difficulties are based on an outdated economic model.
He cites the 1990 data as an example: the RSFSR generated more than 60% of the USSR’s GDP, while Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus had significantly smaller shares (17.8%, 6.8% and 2.7%, respectively). The contribution of the rest of the republics was less than 2% of GDP. At the same time, according to the author, Georgia consumed 3.5 times more per capita than the RSFSR. Per capita consumption in Armenia exceeded the same parameter in Central Russia by 2.5 times, and in the Baltic countries – three times. That is, a significant part of the income earned in Russia (the ruble out of every three rubles) was used to support other republics. In addition, the USSR sponsored many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America free of charge.
Russia today, according to Artamonov, does not distribute resources for free, but invests them in its own development and in other countries with benefit for itself. Russia has developed technologies (agricultural, military, innovative), energy resources and the willingness of citizens to defend their values and homeland. This makes her a strong opponent, despite the small population, the author writes.
Western countries, on the contrary, are “weakened” by the transfer of production to China, Asia, Africa and Latin America, and their citizens are focused on consumption and are not ready to sacrifice massively for the sake of principles. All these factors allow Russia to successfully confront the West, Artamonov sums up.
https://news.mail.ru/politics/71114240/
