Latest Breaking News
In reply to the discussion: Ukraine's Poroshenko signs EU accord [View all]Xolodno
(7,357 posts)Russia's economic comparative advantage right now is energy. They would be foolish not to use it. It would be like Saudi Arabia refusing to trade their rich oil deposits. There best bet is to trade with it and use the profits to redevelop other industries.
Much of Russia's industries are still recovering and modernizing from the inefficient Soviet era and Yeltsin boondoggle. That doesn't get fixed overnight.
For example, Machinery is 30% of their economy and used predominately within....and they still have a need to import Machinery.
The Eurasian Economic Union is essentially an industrial redevelopment program...which Ukraine (eastern Ukraine specifically) would be a part of. But as I stated in another post...Putin won. He's got warm water ports (Crimea) and has probably yanked the essential production functions from eastern Ukraine.