EU state’s PM predicts rush to resume business in Russia

Western nations will regain their “senses” once the Ukraine conflict ends, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said

Western companies will fall over themselves in their rush to reestablish business in Russia once the Ukraine conflict is over, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said.

After the hostilities in Ukraine escalated in 2022, the West imposed an unprecedented slew of sanctions on Russia, aiming to severely damage its economy. The measures, in combination with Russian countersanctions, forced many Western companies to divest from their businesses in Russia.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Fico commented on the EU’s latest plan to completely phase out Russian gas imports by November of next year, which he likened to “energy suicide.”

However, the Ukraine conflict will likely be over by that date, he argued.

“And write it down, everyone, when the military conflict ends, everyone will break their legs running to Russia to do business,” Fico said.

Afterward, “we will all come to our senses,” he added.

“Because breaking away from Russian energy in this way is suicide. And it’s not just me saying this. German economists, German politicians, and now other politicians from the European Union are also saying the same thing today.”

Slovakia and Hungary, both of which are heavily reliant on Russian energy imports, have said that they will sue the EU over the looming gas ban, arguing that it illegally bypassed their opposition on what was essentially a new sanction, the imposition of which requires unanimous approval.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, many European companies are waiting for sanctions to be lifted and are “eager to return” to do business in Russia. “Those who wish to return are always welcome,” he said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok last year.

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However, returning Western companies will be expected to compete with Russian firms that have taken their market niches in their absence, Putin has stressed.