MOSCOW, March 13, /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin holds that economic sanctions against Russia will affect first of all partners of Russian companies abroad. He wrote this in his Twitter page on Thursday after his conversation with heads of major Russian industrial enterprises.

“The upshot of the conversation is that possible sanctions will compel enterprises to show better performance to replace imported goods,” the deputy premier noted. “The sanctions would hit hard the companies’ western partners,” he said.

“What’s the sense of western politicians, during the recession, causing difficulties for western businesses to which the Russian market offers the only opportunity to keep afloat and preserve work places,” Rogozin asked. “This applies to Ukraine even in a greater degree,” he added.

Earlier in the day Rogozin announced in Twitter that the conversation with chiefs of industrial enterprises was aimed to discuss ways of minimizing consequences of possible economic sanctions. It was a closed-door meeting.