VORONEZH, May 21. /TASS/. Chairwoman of the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko has said the disruption of economic and cooperative ties between Ukraine and Russia will result in the destruction of Ukraine’s industry. She was speaking at a meeting of the Voronezh region government in central Russia dedicated to the development of import substitution in the economy’s priority sectors.
"Today the power in Ukraine is in the hands of people who are hostile to Russia and who do not understand what they are doing. The disruption of economic and cooperative ties with Russia will destroy Ukraine’s industry. Breaking these ties for the sake of political ambitions, prohibiting export of components and replacement parts to Russia, which used to be sent to the Russian market, is mere madness. It’s like biting the hand that feeds you," Matviyenko said.
The Federation Council speaker said that government program of import substitution had taken into account the issue of supplies from Ukraine, adding that the government was considering the construction of new enterprises and manufacture of the items that used to be supplied by Ukraine.
According to Matviyenko, this is not an easy task, but in twelve months, three years at the latest, the Russian economy will be able to replace those supplies from Ukraine. The speaker added that she was not sure that the other side was aware of what had to be done in such a situation. "With the exception of Russia and CIS countries, no one needs them [Ukrainian products]," the parliamentarian said.