SOVEREIGN ECONOMY: TOP EVENTS OF THE WEEK
23/06/2023, 09:00
EU member states' representatives have agreed on the 11th package of anti-Russian sanctions. It is known that the new sanctions package includes measures aimed at combating sanctions evasion and allows the inclusion of unique individuals in the sanctions lists. Companies from third countries helping the Kremlin to circumvent existing trade restrictions will be in the spotlight.
The Russian Finance Minister has called for a reduction in budget expenditures. Mr. Siluanov has reported that budget expenditures have increased by 1.5 times over the last three years, and there is no room for further growth. Prioritization is needed. Russia cannot afford astronomical war costs with Ukraine without significantly cutting other expenses. The socio-economic situation in Russia will deteriorate.
State-owned companies are required to switch to Russian software by January 1, 2025. State-owned companies must switch to Russian operating systems, office software, databases, and virtualization systems by January 1, 2025, according to the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadaev. Despite the lengthy process of processing with this initiative, the prospect of its implementation by January 1, 2025, seems doubtful.
The Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade is discussing introducing a ban on the parallel import of servers and data storage systems from "unfriendly" countries with competitive Russian and Chinese counterparts, as well as Samsung and LG mobile devices. The isolationist policy, formulated at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as "technological sovereignty," is taking on practical outlines. The deferred result of such demonstrative isolation will be an increase in Russia's technological lag.
General Electric has stopped servicing gas turbines at Russian power plants. The reason is the entry into force of expanded US sanctions. The most affected are the most powerful F-class gas turbine models (Surgutskaya Power Plant-2, Shaturskaya Power Plant, and Sredneuralskaya Power Plant) and H-class (Kazan CHP-3). Russian generating companies are forced to seek to localise spare parts production and service.
