A top official of Russia’s ruling political party is calling for his country to seize foreign-owned factories that have temporarily closed following the war in Ukraine.
Andrei Turchak, the secretary of the general council of the United Russia party, revealed that his party, which is unwaveringly loyal to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, supports the Russian government nationalizing operations of shuttered foreign companies as a way to preserve jobs and insulate the country from production issues.
“United Russia proposes to nationalize the production of those companies that announce their exit and the closure of production in Russia during a special operation in Ukraine,” said Turchak on the party’s website, referencing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
OIL PRICES CLIMB ON NEWS RUSSIAN ENERGY IMPORTS WILL BE BANNED
Turchak said that the decision by some factories to close up shop in response to the war is “purely political” and resulted in Russian workers being left without jobs.
“This is an extreme measure, but we will not tolerate being stabbed in the back, and we will protect our people. This is a real war, not against Russia as a whole, but against our citizens,” he said, according to a translation by Reuters. “We will take tough retaliatory measures, acting in accordance with the laws of war.”
Several international corporations have announced that they are stopping business operations in Russia because of the war, which began near the end of last month. Tranches of sanctions have been levied against Russia and its top officials by Western powers which have resulted in a domestic economic crisis for the embattled Putin.
While the early sanctions from the United States and Europe largely avoided interfering with Russia’s energy sector, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. would ban oil and natural gas from Russia, a move that hits at Russia’s most important and economically rewarding industry.
“We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy,” Biden said in remarks Tuesday. “That means Russian oil will no longer be accepted at U.S. ports, and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”
It isn’t just the U.S. government that is pushing back on Russia’s energy sector. Private companies have also directly responded to the conflict through a form of self-sanctioning.
BP and Shell both announced last week that they are divesting their stakes in massive Russian oil companies because of the war, decisions that could result in losses worth billions of dollars.
BP announced that it would be exiting its 19.75% stake in Rosneft, accounting for about half of BP’s oil and gas reserves. Shell also said that it is exiting all its investments in Russian projects because of the invasion of Ukraine.
Home furnishing retailer IKEA, Toyota, Nike, and other companies have also announced the closure of business operations in Russia.
“The war has both a huge human impact and is resulting in serious disruptions to supply chain and trading conditions, which is why the company groups have decided to temporarily pause IKEA operations in Russia,” IKEA said in a statement.
Additionally, the world’s largest shipping lines, along with mail carriers such as UPS Inc. and FedEx, have all cut services to Russia. Shipping giants A.P. Moeller-Maersk and the Mediterranean Shipping Company said last week they are suspending container shipping to and from ports in Russia.
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The Western sanctions, coupled with the punitive action of some private sector companies, have left Russia’s economy in shambles. The ruble, Russia’s currency, was trading at less than a penny on Tuesday at about 133 against the dollar.
