In recent years, the United States has spared no expense in continuously restricting the development of Russia, even going so far as to involve the European Union in an economic blockade against Russia. The EU seems to be quite compliant, even abandoning its image as a neutral nation for a century, and joining forces to freeze Russian assets.
After the United States and Europe have paid a huge price, what is the current situation in Russia?
According to reports from the Russian News Agency, Russia, which fell out of the top ten global economies in 2015, returned to the top ten after eight years, ranking eighth and pushing South Korea down. In 2022, the scale of Russian goods and services has astonishingly reached 2.3 trillion US dollars. This also indicates that Russia has not experienced economic decline due to the suppression of the United States and Europe, but rather has become stronger under pressure. What would the United States think if they saw this data at this time?
Today, I will focus on why Russia's economy has become stronger under the suppression of the United States and Europe, and what truths and reasons lie behind it. Let's continue to look down.
Firstly, the ruble is pegged to gold, and trade has not been affected at all!
After the United States restricted Russia from using US dollars and euros for transactions, Russia directly announced the use of rubles for settlement and pegged the ruble to gold, even announcing the use of rubles to repay the country's debt.
We all know that since 2014, Russia has been massively accumulating gold reserves. According to an analysis by the Nikkei News, over the past 10 years, Russia's gold reserves have increased to about 2.4 times, reaching 2,298 tons, accounting for about 7.3% of the world's total, with a gold reserve value of about 134 billion US dollars.
In addition, according to a report from the Central Bank of Russia last month, as of March 1, Russia's gold reserves increased by 1 million ounces compared to last year, finally reaching 74.9 million ounces. Currently, Russia is one of the top five gold reserve countries in the world, with gold reserves even higher than China.
With so much gold reserves, countries are naturally not worried about the devaluation of the ruble. This means that after losing the intermediate transaction currency of the US dollar and the euro, Russia's trade will not be affected at all, and the country's debt will not default. This is the fundamental reason for the growth of Russia's economy.Second, the world is now a community where a loss for one is a loss for all, and a gain for one is a gain for all. The global economy has become a single entity, often with a domino effect where one action can impact the whole system. Suppressing others is also an act that harms the enemy by eight hundred and oneself by a thousand. In this situation, the United States can replenish itself by printing money without limits, but what about other countries? Therefore, cooperation is only superficial; when it comes to core interests, everyone will still be cautious. As the saying goes, all under heaven is bustling for profit, and all under heaven is bustling for profit.
Let's look at a set of data: According to the European Union's statistical office data in March, the total value of goods imported from Russia by the EU in 2022 increased by 25%, reaching €203.4 billion, just €2.3 billion less than the historical high of €203.6 billion in 2012.
Can everyone see that under the suppression of the United States and Europe, the EU's imports from Russia last year almost set a new record.
Wasn't there a call to boycott Russia's energy exports? The data finally tells us the truth. That is, the boycott of Russia is just a one-sided wish of the United States, and no country actually wants to boycott Russia's cheap energy, including the EU.
So, it is not surprising that Russia's economic growth has continued under the United States' loud thunder but light rain of intimidation.
Third, Russia's trade shift towards Asia has further boosted its economic growth.
Russia has always been trying to ingratiate itself with the United States and Europe, hoping to join the EU's circle, but they never gave Russia the opportunity. Now, it's a good thing that Russia can take this opportunity to move away from Europe and embrace Asia.Previously, Russia announced that it would raise the maximum proportion of its reserves in Renminbi to 60%, eliminate the share of the Euro in the National Wealth Fund, and also zero out the balances of the Pound and Yen accounts.
Now it appears that Russia's strategy is proving to be correct. According to customs statistics, the trade volume between China and Russia in 2022 reached a record high of 190.2 billion US dollars, accounting for 3% of China's total import and export value, which is a 29.3% increase compared to the previous year, with Russia's trade surplus with China at 38 billion US dollars.
Additionally, data from India shows that the bilateral trade volume between Russia and India in 2022 increased from 13 billion US dollars to 39 billion US dollars. Russia's export volume to India increased by 3.5 times, reaching 36.1 billion US dollars, while India's direct exports to Russia were 2.9 billion US dollars, a decrease of 12%.
It is evident that last year, Russia was significantly exporting goods to Asian countries such as China and India.
In 2022, due to the European Union's reluctant compliance with the United States, not only did this render the US sanctions ineffective, but it also increased trade imports from Russia. Furthermore, the shift in Russia's trade focus has further boosted its economic development, ultimately leading to Russia's return to the status of one of the world's top ten economies.
As the saying goes: "Intentional planting does not make flowers bloom, but willows grow where they are not planted."
