European bureaucracy ignores business interests, Putin says

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti): European bureaucrats ignored the interests of their entrepreneurs, metal prices in Europe will grow, as will inflati-on, said Russian Pre-sident Putin.
According to him, unfriendly steps towards Russian metallurgists were taken for the sake of momentary political interests, under this pretext, ties that had been developed over the years, based on such rational things as business reputation, were crossed out. mutual interest and economic efficiency.
“These key concepts that support business turned out to be superfluous in the political game of European bureaucrats. Speaking directly, the interests of European entrepreneurs who, in cooperation with Russian companies, produce goods, provide emp-loyment, were simply ignored, set aside,” Putin said at the mee-ting . on the development of the metallurgical complex.
He drew attention to the fact that such a rough and short-sighted policy would negatively affect the economies of European countries and lead to a sharp increase in the cost of metals in their markets.
“Well, that means that inflation will also go up, the well-being of European consumers and ordinary citizens will decrease. Such is the price of the decisions made,” the head of state stressed.
Putin said that the restrictions against Russian metallurgists are contrary to the norms of the World Trade Organization, and in this regard, instructed the government to conduct a comprehensive assessment by June 1 and prepare an updated strategy for Russia’s actions in the WTO.
“Recently, illegal restrictions have been imposed on our companies by Western states. This is not only about a ban on the supply of finished products, but also about the purchase of certain components for the production of rolled metal, steel sheets, fittings, and so on,” Putin said at the meeting on the development of the metallurgical complex.
“These measures run counter to the principles of the World Trade Organization, the adherence to which European colleagues have constantly reiterated. In this regard, I instruct the government to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the legality of the decisions of Western counterparties, as well as to prepare an updated strategy for our actions in the World Trade Organization. Please complete this work by 1 June of this year,” the President of the Russian Federation stressed .
He added that such unfriendly steps towards Russian metallurgists were taken to please momentary political interests.