Gilbert Doctorow — Sanctions Have Failed. 'Buy Russian' Is Working

It is now more than a year that Russia imposed its food embargo on the EU and other states which had applied sanctions to it over its absorption of Crimea and intervention in southeastern Ukraine. The results of the change-over in overseas suppliers and rising import substitution through the efforts of domestic producers have now become fairly clear.

In this brief report based on visits to retail outlets ranging from convenience stores and market stalls to hypermarkets and from the St Petersburg city center to hamlets 80 km away in the hinterland, I will try to make some sense of what has occurred, how Russians’ shopping basket has changed so far and where the trend lines are leading. Put another way, I will start with a number of small and specific observations and end with some generalizations and forecasts of what broad processes are underway and how they can affect the global food trade.…

Sanctions are helping Russia to restructure its economy, avoid Dutch disease, and become more competitive as a food exporter.

Russia Insider
Sanctions Have Failed. 'Buy Russian' Is Working
Gilbert Doctorow