Over nearly four years of war, the Russian business community has been on a journey from the panic of 2022 through the euphoria of 2023 and early 2024, to a growing pessimism that has crystallized into a demand for state support. 

Nobody is under any illusions that the price of such interventions will at best compromise their independence or, at worst, result in their seizure.

But the business community no longer sees any alternatives. It is suffering, according to a study from the Institute of National Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INP RAS). The researchers attribute this to tight monetary policy, but their findings make it clear that sanctions are causing businesses the most pain. More than 70% of respondents say their enterprises have been affected, with 60% naming difficulties obtaining imported raw materials, components and spare parts for equipment repairs as their main problems.

The most interesting answers came when respondents were asked what they believe the authorities should do.

The conclusion is straightforward: entrepreneurs are asking the state to treat them the way it treats the defense sector and politically connected firms.

Everyone understands what that entails. State support comes at the price of autonomy — and often ownership itself. Recent examples are instructive. The Kremlin seized assets from the Danish company Rockwool without even bothering to invent a pretext. The company stayed in Russia after the invasion began, and its insulation materials were used in Russian submarines. None of that mattered. Nor did political connections save the gold-mining giant Yuzhuralzoloto.

For decades, Russian entrepreneurs had a single request of the state: don’t interfere — we’ll manage on our own. Now, they cannot.

It is hard to blame business owners........

© The Moscow Times