Russian Business Will Not Ignore Kaliningrad's Problems

Russian business will find a way to create corresponding problems for those countries that want to strike an unprovoked blow to the Kaliningrad economy. This announcement was made today by Vladimir Shcherbakov, the deputy president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, at the European NGO forum in Kaliningrad.

According to Shcherbakov, certain Scandinavian countries, in particular Finland, have come out against the free movement of goods and capital to and from the Kaliningrad Region, thus striking an unprovoked blow against the region's economy. He noted that it was particularly strange to see such a position taken up by Finland, whose economy developed due to its location between the USSR and the West.

Shcherbakov promised that this position would not be ignored. He suggested that an appropriate response could be to introduce for the Karelian and Komi Republics the same rules that the Scandinavians are proposing for the Kaliningrad Region. Shcherbakov was certain that if business applied pressure, the Russian leadership would take such steps.

Vladimir Shcherbakov is the chairman of the board of directors of Avtotor, a car assembly plant in Kaliningrad, which produces BMWs.