Financial Times: Putin Has Forced Businesses To Pay For The War

Russian companies are paying for protection against Ukrainian drones out of their own pockets.

Putin has effectively shifted the cost of protecting businesses from Ukrainian drones onto Russian companies. Companies that are unable to ensure the security of their facilities risk having the government take over their operations, according to Financial Times.

In late August, Putin signed a decree authorizing the imposition of “temporary administration” at critical infrastructure facilities that are not protected against drone attacks. Three days later, the government established a special commission to implement the new rules.

A former Kremlin official told the FT that the initiative came from the military and intelligence services. “They complained that businesses were sitting on their hands and didn’t even want to lift a finger. Putin agreed,” the source told the publication.

After the decree was issued, the number of companies seeking help from drone defense specialists rose sharply. According to expert Vyacheslav Plaksin, demand increased roughly fivefold in a short period of time.

Another problem for businesses is the cost of such protection. For one company, the system cost 220 million rubles, and an entrepreneur from a border region told the FT that he spent over 1.5 billion rubles on air defense systems.

At the same time, there are still no clear rules regarding exactly which facilities should be protected and by what means. Many electronic warfare systems require special permits.

The Kremlin’s new powers are raising concerns among business owners that they could be used to seize assets. “This has become yet another new tax,” says Alexandra Prokopenko, an expert at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.

According to the FT, Moscow is effectively asking businesses to foot the bill themselves for the increasingly expensive defense against the war that Russian authorities are waging against Ukraine.

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