Russia ‘is heading for financial crisis in 2024’
Russia’s former first minister for the economy has predicted that western sanctions over the war in Ukraine will push the country into a financial crisis next year.
Andrey Nechayev, 70, warned businessmen attending the Ekaterinburg financial forum this week that the country’s finances were “in the shit”. “And what’s worse is that we’ve decided to settle down there,” he said, in a rare high-level criticism of President Putin’s policies.
The comment drew nervous smiles and was applauded by one member of the audience; in the oppressive environment in wartime Russia dissenters are frequently arrested, tortured and poisoned.
Nechayev added that while food franchises like “McDonald’s can be replaced by blini [Russian pancakes], high-tech products can’t”.
The former minister, in office from 1992 to 1993 after
