Today Putin met with First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov who was charged with managing a very important project, the draft law on technology policy that will provide the basis for expanding technological sovereignty—a national project—while also modifying and improving Russia’s industrial policy.
This is really interesting and inspiring. Are there parameters around environmental impacts of these projects? Is there a focus on implementing them in a way that reduces their environmental impact?
Russia has learned the hard way about the need to make environmental impact assessments an integral part of its political-economy. During general meetings with government members, there's often a discussion about the environment, some longer, some shorter. Much of the ongoing large project development in the Arctic, Siberia, and elsewhere looks at environmental impact during the planning process as a result of hard lessons learned during the Soviet period. Russia has one main regulatory ministry in charge of both environment and natural resources that interacts with many other government ministries. For example, Russia would like to increase the level of its internal tourism, in particular eco-tourism, while being extremely mindful of its environmental impact. The region around Lake Bikal is one very prime example.
The next time a meeting that highlights Russia's environment occurs, I'll translate it and post it here as I do all these others. I know there're several at my VK, but don't recall which of the several hundred they are, or I'd make it an archive post.
It strikes me that Russia's support of sovereignty for individual nations has an analog in her various initiatives that involve industry. For example, a leading manufacturer has a vested interest in leading or facilitating an industry-wide effort to identify the parts and other inputs that it and its peers need, in order to avoid shortages of critical supplies.
The ultimate result is good for the manufacturer, the citizenry, and the country.
An excellent example of what happens when a nation lacks an industrial and related resource policies is present in this report from Sputnikglobe, "US Acknowledges 'Critical Dependence' on Russian Nuclear Fuel Imports:"
"As the United States continues to push its decoupling from the economies of countries it considers adversaries, the next target is its imports of fuel for its nuclear power plants, some of which it purchases from the Russian state-owned corporation Rosatom....
" After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, many nations paused nuclear power plant construction, which sent many private companies, such as Westinghouse and Areva SA, into bankruptcy, disrupting the supply chain. However, Russia’s state-owned Rosatom not only weathered the storm, but moved into those markets as the new enriched uranium supplier.
"The result is that today, the US lacks an adequate industry for mining, refining, and manufacturing U-235 nuclear fuel rods that’s able to meet the needs of its growing nuclear power sector, so it has turned to Rosatom to fill the gap. According to US government data, Rosatom supplied about 25% of its enriched uranium imports in the first half of 2023 and about 14% of nuclear fuel imports in 2022. It imports about 90% of its nuclear fuel, with other prominent customers being Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Canada, and Australia."
The article also notes, "A bill banning US imports from Rosatom by 2028 was approved by a House subcommittee in May, but has failed to make any progress in Congress since." The confusion displayed results from several factors related to the privatization of everything. In Russia and most other nations, power generation is a state/public utility, and thus procurement of fuel supplies becomes part of government policy making. But within the Outlaw US Empire, there's no real national energy policy as the 50 states all have different energy providers. And that same basic problem exists in many other areas of the national economy, which is one reason why Oligarch Rent Seeking is so easy to accomplish.
After WW II, the Dutch government did everything it could to construct vehicles for expanding the economy and bring revenue to Dutch coffers and citizens. The Royal family lent money to invest in a variety of enterprises, so did the national government as well as big cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam, all much dependent on international trade.
Dairy and dairy cattle became a major export item as well as the agricultural surplus, the US Army in Germany being one of the big buyers. KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, received funding from some of these sources. The Dutch government owned the State Mines in the Southern Netherlands, well know for producing chemicals as well as coal. Today, you know it as AKZO/Nobel, turning private many decades ago and abandoning coal in the fifties. Philips (like GE starting with light bulbs), Unilever/Lever Brothers, Royal Dutch Shell, Hoogovens (large iron and steel complex) all benefited from the benevolent hand of the Dutch government and associates, extended to much smaller and not multi-national enterprises as well.
I have seen this, lived it, studied it and appreciated the large collection of brains collaborating to achieve a good outcome. The Netherlands is and was much smaller than Russia, but no matter what size, the principles for doing good as all hands (and brains) work together are the same.
Putin turned Russia around. For that he deserves endless credit. More to come.
Hi Karl,
This is really interesting and inspiring. Are there parameters around environmental impacts of these projects? Is there a focus on implementing them in a way that reduces their environmental impact?
Russia has learned the hard way about the need to make environmental impact assessments an integral part of its political-economy. During general meetings with government members, there's often a discussion about the environment, some longer, some shorter. Much of the ongoing large project development in the Arctic, Siberia, and elsewhere looks at environmental impact during the planning process as a result of hard lessons learned during the Soviet period. Russia has one main regulatory ministry in charge of both environment and natural resources that interacts with many other government ministries. For example, Russia would like to increase the level of its internal tourism, in particular eco-tourism, while being extremely mindful of its environmental impact. The region around Lake Bikal is one very prime example.
The next time a meeting that highlights Russia's environment occurs, I'll translate it and post it here as I do all these others. I know there're several at my VK, but don't recall which of the several hundred they are, or I'd make it an archive post.
I agree, Diana.
It strikes me that Russia's support of sovereignty for individual nations has an analog in her various initiatives that involve industry. For example, a leading manufacturer has a vested interest in leading or facilitating an industry-wide effort to identify the parts and other inputs that it and its peers need, in order to avoid shortages of critical supplies.
The ultimate result is good for the manufacturer, the citizenry, and the country.
An excellent example of what happens when a nation lacks an industrial and related resource policies is present in this report from Sputnikglobe, "US Acknowledges 'Critical Dependence' on Russian Nuclear Fuel Imports:"
"As the United States continues to push its decoupling from the economies of countries it considers adversaries, the next target is its imports of fuel for its nuclear power plants, some of which it purchases from the Russian state-owned corporation Rosatom....
" After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, many nations paused nuclear power plant construction, which sent many private companies, such as Westinghouse and Areva SA, into bankruptcy, disrupting the supply chain. However, Russia’s state-owned Rosatom not only weathered the storm, but moved into those markets as the new enriched uranium supplier.
"The result is that today, the US lacks an adequate industry for mining, refining, and manufacturing U-235 nuclear fuel rods that’s able to meet the needs of its growing nuclear power sector, so it has turned to Rosatom to fill the gap. According to US government data, Rosatom supplied about 25% of its enriched uranium imports in the first half of 2023 and about 14% of nuclear fuel imports in 2022. It imports about 90% of its nuclear fuel, with other prominent customers being Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Canada, and Australia."
The article also notes, "A bill banning US imports from Rosatom by 2028 was approved by a House subcommittee in May, but has failed to make any progress in Congress since." The confusion displayed results from several factors related to the privatization of everything. In Russia and most other nations, power generation is a state/public utility, and thus procurement of fuel supplies becomes part of government policy making. But within the Outlaw US Empire, there's no real national energy policy as the 50 states all have different energy providers. And that same basic problem exists in many other areas of the national economy, which is one reason why Oligarch Rent Seeking is so easy to accomplish.
After WW II, the Dutch government did everything it could to construct vehicles for expanding the economy and bring revenue to Dutch coffers and citizens. The Royal family lent money to invest in a variety of enterprises, so did the national government as well as big cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam, all much dependent on international trade.
Dairy and dairy cattle became a major export item as well as the agricultural surplus, the US Army in Germany being one of the big buyers. KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, received funding from some of these sources. The Dutch government owned the State Mines in the Southern Netherlands, well know for producing chemicals as well as coal. Today, you know it as AKZO/Nobel, turning private many decades ago and abandoning coal in the fifties. Philips (like GE starting with light bulbs), Unilever/Lever Brothers, Royal Dutch Shell, Hoogovens (large iron and steel complex) all benefited from the benevolent hand of the Dutch government and associates, extended to much smaller and not multi-national enterprises as well.
I have seen this, lived it, studied it and appreciated the large collection of brains collaborating to achieve a good outcome. The Netherlands is and was much smaller than Russia, but no matter what size, the principles for doing good as all hands (and brains) work together are the same.
Putin turned Russia around. For that he deserves endless credit. More to come.