Western sanctions will be one of the stress factors for the Russian economy in 2019, according to the Center for Budget Assessment and Forecasting at the Russian Ministry of Finance’s Financial Research Institute (NIFI). The losses to the EU economy inflicted by the Russian countermeasures are estimated to be 100 billion euros. Nevertheless, the EU’s sanctions policy is not expected to change in the near future.
A modern interpretation of traditional Russian cuisine from a Moscow chef. Olivier salad served with salmon and cold borshch. Wines from Krasnodar. Each day, Central Europe discovers some new Russian dish.
In December, Russia and the EU traditionally exchanged the news regarding the prolonged sanctions and countermeasures. It's been six years since this sanction battle began. Experts claim that the economy inevitably adapts. The direction of the adaptation depends on ordinary people.
Vladimir Putin: "It's related to Russia’s growing might and its greater competitiveness. A mighty and powerful player is emerging, one that must be reckoned with, even if others would rather not. Our economy has adapted to this. Yes, there are some adverse effects, but look there are also positive aspects to these sanctions. What are they? The sanctions made us switch on our brains in many areas".
Countermotion.
A special report by Regina Sevostyanova
Roland Debuyst is one of the most successful chefs both in Belgium and in the world. He has a Michelin Star and gets to judge the top chef competition on the planet: the Bocuse d'Or, which some call the culinary Oscars.
Roland Debuyst, chef: Here's my chef medal. Second place in 1997. And here's my trophy designed by Cesar, the same Cesar who had a cinema award named after him.
- It's heavy.
- There are only seven in the world. After the seventh ceremony, they changed the trophy. Now, it's an effigy of Paul Bocuse, the founder of the contest.
The European stage of the Bocuse d'Or took place in the summer of 2018 in Turin, Italy. Roland was the coach of the Russian team. Thanks to his work at the organizing committee, the Belgian chef has been actively cooking Russian meals and meeting with Russian colleagues for the last six years. His cooperation with Eugeny Meshcheryakov resulted in a series of joint projects, including a culinary visit exchange. Roland was presenting his skill in Moscow while Eugeny was cooking in Brussels. The presentation menu for the Russian cuisine developed by the two chefs is now served both in Moscow and Brussels.
Roland Debuyst: "We know nothing about you. When I was planning my first trip to Russia my own wife was, frankly, against it. But then, she came here with me and saw how friendly and hospitable Russian people are. Actual Russia differs greatly from what the media show us. It's like two different worlds that don't overlap. It's my modern interpretation of a napoleon. It's a dessert which we designed together with Evgeniy. It's usually made of culinary cream and milk cream. We have the classic layers of pastry, but the cream we use is not milk cream, but rather a mashed chestnut cream. Here are the chestnuts. These ones aren't Russian, they're from France. But you can buy chestnuts in Russia. Ultimately, we get a seasonal napoleon because chestnuts are a classic seasonal ingredient. Instead of serving all the layers on a plate, we serve it in a dessert bowl. It's lighter this way".
Seasonality is one of the requirements of top-tier cuisine because the chefs get to work with the freshest ingredients, which are impossible to import. The only land that can properly feed a person is their own.
Evgeniy Meshcheryakov, chef: "Russians actively began eating pumpkin in the fall. Previously, restaurants struggled to sell a menu like this. Now, it attracts a lot of visitors. People associate pumpkin with warmth and high vitamin content. It also looks appropriate for the season which appeals to the human eye. So I believe that everyone should eat their local food".
Evgeniy Meshcheryakov admits the transition was quite harsh. The current generation of chefs is used to working with imported food and falls far behind their Western colleagues in terms of skills and techniques. There's a new gap in the food range. Luxury foie gras and truffles are still there, but there are 3-4 times fewer types of citrus fruit. Mini-vegetables and spices are also gone. Historically, only Europe could produce the latter. But the issues are offset by the great desire to learn.
Roland Debuyst calls Russians "travelers-explorers" After facing complications caused by the sanctions the cooks and commodity producers showed an immense desire to learn that in many fields, they can already compete with their European colleagues. They lack experience in some fields but are pretty skilled in other.
Evgeniy Meshcheryakov, chef: "The sanctions gave our chefs an opportunity to stop thinking about what's happening on their plates and focus on what's happening in their brains and hands. That's an advantage since it makes us evolve. There's another thing. Judging from my own experience we've started searching for new logistics chains that allow companies to produce food within the country".
In Russia, Evgeniy couldn't find all the ingredients required to cook the menu he developed in Belgium with Debuyst. However, he found a farm that quickly grew a quality analogue.
Roland Debuyst: "Speaking of the quality of the Russian food, six years ago it was up-and-down, differing from case to case. Now, there's stability; the quality is gradually increasing. Summer markets offer great vegetables. You can't buy them here. And the quality has only been increasing. Milk, eggs, more Russian cheeses, and beef cows. You know, in recent years, I've noticed that the Russians are proud of their food. Previously, you used to consider European things better by default. But now, you don't need them".
That was a sensation in the European news environment. Instead of begging the EU to resume meat and milk shipments Russia is investing money in agricultural complexes and purchases genetic material. The authorities of the Kantemirovsky District in Voronezh Oblast funded the construction of a farm that would breed cattle imported from Europe. The primary news channel on French television aired a report about the Montbeliarde dairy cows living in Voronezh Oblast. The reporter said that Russian farmers carefully observed the instructions of the breeders even in terms of stall temperature and were quite successful. A large number of calves born in Russia confirms that.
Carole Delume, BBG export specialist: "In the recent months it's become clear that Europe has finally realized that it shouldn't obey America's every command. That does more harm to Europe, even in terms of business. The Russian market is extremely important: meat, milk, and other segments. Ultimately, it allows us to continue doing our job".
This farm in Wallonia, Belgium has set the ambitious goal of helping Russia counter its deficit in meat production. The owners of the Voronezh farm decided that they need to breed the best meat cows. The Belgian Blue is considered the most promising breed in the world also called "the bodybuilder-cow." Their milk is valued for its high fat content. Any kind of cheese, including the hard ones, can be made out of it. But the main feature of these cows is the increased muscle mass. An adult cow can weigh over 2,800 lbs. 80% of that is dietary meat. Despite the menacing look, the Belgian Blue is very obedient and doesn't require special care.
Carole Delume: "There are many rumors about these cows, some of them are completely wrong. Their genes weren't manipulated in any way. Their DNA wasn't artificially altered. More than 100 years ago, breeders decided to breed cows with the highest muscle mass, gradually eliminating the myostatin protein that suppresses muscle growth. In the end, these animals acquired a genetic function that neutralizes myostatin, allowing them to grow muscle throughout their entire lives. It happened exclusively thanks to selective breeding as with all other breeds. No laboratory science was involved".
Philipp Van Eyck, farmer: "We're very proud of this breed because we created it. In the early 21st century. The breed was a success and became the main one in Belgium. Now, we're selling it around the world".
Philipp is the best Belgian Blue breeder in the world. He's a third-generation farmer and the head of a Belgian trade union. His farm specializes in this particular breed of cow. From there, about 200 Belgian Blues moved to Russia. Soon, they'll have their own calves.
Philipp Van Eyck: "I personally met Russian farmers to exchange experiences. It was quite interesting. I felt that they were passionate about what they were doing and extremely interested in getting results, which is a quality that I like in people".
Dimitry Bonte, wine store owner: "Earlier this year, I visited Riga with my wife. We went to a restaurant and I saw Russian wine on the menu. I tasted it. It tasted unbelievably wonderful. The wine was so great that I was intrigued. I wanted to learn more about it. I returned home and began sending out emails, asking where I could find it in Europe. I couldn't. It was only sold in Russia by the producer. That's how it all began".
Dimitry Bonte comes from Belgium. He's a certified sommelier and a wine business owner.
- Hello, how are you?
The list of his clients includes both rating and even star-crowned restaurants as well as ordinary local residents. He first tasted Russian wine in March. In late November, the sorts he and his assistant Hans picked arrived in Europe. 32 sorts from five wineries in Krasnodar Krai.
Dimitry Bonte: "The demand is huge. Here's the new shipment. We've just received it and some boxes are already empty. The bottles have authentic labels. All of them are in Russian. It's great since the wine comes from Russia. We don't believe that anything about it should be changed. We only added small stickers on the back of the bottle to make it clear for the clients and customs what's inside".
It's a brand new page in Russian-European trade relations that was opened under the sanctions. Previously, Russian wine wasn't officially exported to the Old World. Now, it'll be sold in wine shops, online stores, and served in restaurants. The price range widely varies from 8.5 to 140 euro for a bottle. This fact had an effect as an information bomb in Belgium. While we were at the store it was visited by our colleagues from the local radio and television not just to film a report or an interview but to try the wine as well.
Tijs Mauroo, VRT reporter: "The mere idea of "Russian wine" is surprising. In addition, I believe the taste is quite different. Even if the grapes are the same, the climate and soil still influence the palette. It must be tasted. It's a great novelty here, in Belgium. I'm taking a couple of bottles home".
The importers are so confident in the wine that they offer their clients to try it. No one leaves empty-handed. There are a lot of attractive features: the quality, the taste, the pretty and unusual design, and the novelty effect.
Dimitry Bonte: "I'm astonished by how quickly Russia is developing. The wineries are young. They were planted shortly before 2010. And one must realize that the first actual crop comes after four years at best. It means they began making wine only in 2014. That's shocking. They started professionally producing quality wine in such a short period of time".
Historically, Russia always used to import beer. According to the federal customs service over the last year, our country imported 57% more foamy beverage than in 2017. The reason is obvious: we hosted the FIFA World Cup.
Michael Hoppenbrouwers, brewery managing director: "I'm quite open-minded and don't believe stereotypes. We've been working with our Russian partners for about 20 years now. But Russia is too far away for many European nations. In this sense, the World Cup helped a lot. It was so easy to travel during the tournament, there were no issues with the entry. Our tourists might've had stereotypes about Russia but now, they've seen it with their own eyes".
Michael Hoppenbrouwers is the managing director of a brewery located in the geographic center of Flanders. Last summer, he spent three weeks in Moscow watching the soccer tournament and meeting his fellow brewers from Russia. Buggenhout considers its partnership with Russia to be one of the most stable and vital. Michael doesn't need the World Cup to make several trips to Russia every year. This brewery is 39 years older than Belgium itself. Throughout its history, since the day it was founded in 1791, the brewery was run by a single family of Bosteels. Michael is a seventh-generation brewer. For three centuries, the beer here has been produced following the original monk recipe. The family got one of the recipes from a medieval abbey. They try to preserve as much of it as possible.
Michael Hoppenbrouwers: "Today, we can look at the screen and see which tank is fermenting or where and when we added hops. Several years ago, we used simple chalk to write it all down. See that board?”
The famous coachmen beer comes from this particular brewery. Pavel Kvakh used to work here. He owned a small inn nearby. According to the laws issued by Napoleon, coachmen were forbidden to leave their carriages because horses could run away. But they were fond of the bottle. Pavel came up with a solution: He invented a special glass that could be attached to the side of the carriage. Nowadays, Belgians are still allowed to drink beer while driving a horse carriage.
Both beer and knowledge travel from Belgium to Russia. Buggenhout has repeatedly welcomed our brewers to share experiences. The locals are sure that the sanctions can't impact our partnership. Michael even admits that five years ago, the beer sector was disturbed by the increasing number of sanctioned industries. Nobody cares about that now. Michael discovered that the EU had decided to prolong the sanctions against Russia only when we told him.
It's obvious that for the last five years, Russian diplomats haven't been getting less work here at the center of the EU in Brussels.
Vladimir Chizhov, Permanent Representative in EU: "In a way, we have even more work now. We used to do many things through our official cooperation channels. Now, we're on our own, as they say".
According to estimates by the experts, the EU lost about 100 billion euros due to the sanctions. The alliance is paying such a high price to uphold the idea imposed by the United States that Russia poses a mythical threat to the West. But the Transatlantic partners aren't happy with Europe's commitment to the idea. In December, US Special Representative Kurt Volker publicly scolded the Old World for refusing to impose additional sanctions against Russia. He expressed his hopes that Europe would eventually understand the situation. But the EU seems to have realized that the sanction spiral is pointless. But canceling sanctions is far more difficult than adopting.
Vladimir Chizhov: "So far, I'd venture to guess that we've come to some sort of unstable equilibrium. At least more severe sanctions aren't something the EU plans to adopt any time soon. I'll refer to the recent example. Some people were pretty enthusiastic believing that the notorious incident in the Kerch Strait occurred just at the right time to trigger additional sanctions. But that didn't happen. On the other hand, it seems that so far, Europe hasn't accumulated enough collective political will to cancel the sanctions".
For more than a month, Belgium and the Netherlands have been convulsed by the scandal provoked by an article in the Volkskrant. After visiting Moscow, the Dutch journalists concluded that Russians can't live without Conference pears. Russia imports about 350 million euros worth of them every year. But now, they come from South Africa instead of Benelux, as prior to 2014. As a result, European fruit prices have fallen to historical lows. A huge part of the crop gets simply thrown away. The Belgian farmers responded to the article by filing a petition with the government.
It reads: “We're out of money. We're forced to sell pears at a price below production cost. It got to the point where we have to sell our lands to greedy investors while state funding vanishes into the pockets of shareholders.”
The Dutch farmers also addressed their government, demanding financial support. Starting in 2019, the EU stopped allocating money for the compensation paid to the farmers who suffered from the counter-sanctions.
"The number of farmers who received compensation can be counted on one hand. It's time for Russia and the EU to lift the mutual sanctions as they do not achieve the desired goal".
Vladimir Chizhov: "It all was a blessing in disguise. As a result of the sanctions and the following countermeasures adopted by Russia, our agriculture gained strong momentum. Russia regained the status which it used to have in the 19th century as the largest exporter of grain. We also reclaimed a series of other vital positions. Let's see how it goes. I believe that if the agricultural sanctions were lifted tomorrow and we lifted our countermeasures it wouldn't mean that things would go back to normal".
At the beginning of our trade relations, the EU supplied its goods to the Russian market without any local competition. The level of trade quickly grew from 2 billion euros to 14 billion leaving no chances for Russian companies. In many fields, Russian companies began developing only five years ago. Now, they not only have to build production from scratch but also actively search for their place in the world and establish relations with European partners. On the other hand, it's obvious that only the best and most in-demand projects survive in the new environment. And that's the only way to build a healthy partnership if that's what both sides desire.
