The Ukrainian crisis has had major repercussions all over the globe, including western sanctions aimed at Russia that were devised as a means to stop Putin from supporting the pro-Russia rebels in the Eastern Ukraine. These sanctions were met with Putin’s swift counter-action: a massive ban on various fresh foods imports from the Western Europe and the US into Russia. At a glance, however, it seems that even despite Putin’s self-imposed food sanctions, Russians still love their president. More than that, they feel that the government-imposed restrictions on imports from the West will be a blessing for their ailing economy in the long run.

These are the surprising findings of a poll conducted last week by an independent survey organization Levada who monitor the moods and trends in the CIS countries. After polling more than 1600 people, the pollster found that 59 percent of Russian citizens thought that fresh food and other state-enforced imports sanctions will benefit the economy. Most of the respondents felt that cutting the European food supplies will make Russia less dependent on other countries and boost the local market, making farmers grow more and sell more within the country itself, eventually boosting the economy overall.

What seems most surprising, perhaps, is the way Russians react to the sanctions and growing food prices. Where in the West people may respond poorly to possible gas shortages due to Putin’s recent threat to reduce deliveries (citing Ukraine’s possible „stealing” of the gas in transit), in Russia entrepreneurs are finding ways to circumvent the ban and even make a mint on it. The famous „Oyster bar” that capitalized on the growing middle-class interest in gourmet seafoods and exotic shellfish changed its name to „No Oyster Bar”. In Moscow, stores are proudly displaying Mozzarella, Edam and Ricotta cheeses made in Stavropol, a city in the Russian heartland. And at a recent agricultural fair exotic oysters or prosciutto ham have been quietly replaced by local alternatives – dried moose meat and ostrich meat. The demand is there — Russians seem to be quite proud to buy locally to support their beloved leader’s staunch anti-Western stance. But that patience may not be just down to their overwhelming support of Putin’s policies so much as their being used to food shortages.

„People are calm, because they put up with worse than this for 70 years,” a man named Vladimir told BBC.com in regard to the recent price hikes, adding, „They’re ready to put up with price rises and so on for even longer.” He referred to, of course, the days of the Soviet Union, when queues were common and food or product shortages were the grim norm. Another point of view is provided by farmers themselves. One of them, Russian-born Matharu Singh, stated, „There were around 4m beef cows in 1991, now there’s only 1.5m.” He thinks that natural growth of the farm industry cannot be sped up to suit political trends. After all, „It’s animals, not machines. It takes time,” he points out.

Meanwhile, the slumping rouble may hurt the economy badly directly even before it has a chance to go either way in the wake of the food sanctions. The MICEX index for Russian-owned stocks fell by 1.2 percent last week, just as the rouble plummeted to its record low in many years. It’s not at all surprising, then, that the recent talks and trade agreements between Russia and China involved a large currency swap and major fossil fuels strategy changes. That is yet another sign that Russia has turned its sights on its most economically advantageous neighbour. Whether Russians will be as accepting of that change of tack remains to be seen.

VOCABULARY
in the long run – na dłuższą metę
poll – ankieta, sondaż
to conduct – przeprowadzić
survey – ankieta
mood – nastrój
CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) – WNP (Wspólnota Państw Niepodległych)
to poll sb – przeprowadzać wśród kogoś sondaż, badać czyjąś opinię
pollster – agencja badań opinii publicznej
citizen – obywatel
to benefit sb – przynieść komuś korzyść
respondent – ankietowany
supplies – dostawy
dependent on sth – zależny od czegoś
to boost sth – wzmocnić coś, umocnić
overall – ogółem
to respond to sth – zareagować na coś, odebrać coś
poorly – kiepsko, słabo
shortage – niedobór, brak
due to – z powodu
threat – groźba
deliveries – dostawy
to cite sth – przytaczać coś
in transit – w trakcie przesyłania
entrepreneur – przedsiębiorca
to circumvent sth – ominąć coś
ban – zakaz
to make a mint on sth – zarobić na czymś krocie
oyster – ostryga
to capitalize on sth – zarabiać na czymś, zbijać na czymś majątek
gourmet – smakosza (o produkcie wykwintnej kuchni)
shellfish – tu: owoce morza
to display – prezentować, wystawiać
heartland – centrum, serce (kraju, obszaru)
agricultural – rolny, rolniczy
fair – targ, targi
to replace – zamienić, zastąpić
moose – łoś
ostrich – struś
demand – popyt
beloved – ukochany
staunch – twardy, nieustępliwy
stance – stanowisko
patience – cierpliwość
to be down to sth – być wynikiem czegoś
overwhelming – wszechogarniający
to put up with sth – znosić coś
in regard to sth – odnośnie (do) czegoś, w jakimś temacie
price hike – podwyżka ceny
to refer to sth – odwoływać się do czegoś, mieć coś na myśli
the Soviet Union – Związek Radziecki
queue – kolejka
common – powszechny, typowy
grim – ponury
to provide – zapewnić, przedstawić
beef cow – krowa rasy mięsnej
to speed sth up – przyspieszyć coś
to point out – wskazać
slumping – gwałtownie spadający, tracący na wartości
rouble – rubel (UK)
in the wake of sth – w następstwie czegoś, w wyniku czegoś
stocks – akcje
to plummet – gwałtownie opaść
record low – rekordowo niski poziom
trade agreement – umowa handlowa
to involved – obejmować, dotyczyć
currency swap – wymiana walutowa
fossil fuel – paliwo kopalne
to turn one’s sights on sth – zwrócić swój wzrok ku czemuś, obrać coś za cel
advantageous – korzystny
neighbour – sąsiad (UK)
to be accepting of sth – być przychylnie ku czemuś nastawionym, akceptować coś
change of tack – radykalna zmiana nastawienia/taktyki

by Prochor Aniszczuk

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