Russia plunders its natural treasures. Not out of ignorance, but with calculation. Because that’s how the ruble rolls into the coffers of the Kremlin. One resource will become particularly valuable in the future. Says Vladimir Kaminer.
Last May, Greenpeace was declared an “undesirable organization” in Russia, and its activities in the Russian Federation were banned. The status of “undesirable” is considered extremely toxic in Russian legislation, criminalizing any action, any contact, simply anything that is directly or indirectly related to Greenpeace.
It is also not comparable to the status of “foreign agent”, because “agents” are still tolerated under certain conditions, but “undesirables” are not. Any person who comes into contact with an “undesirable organization” is guilty under the penal code. The decision was not unexpected, after all, according to their own description, Greenpeace is also committed to peace in addition to nature conservation – and peace has become a dangerous word in Russia.
Vladimir Kaminer is a writer and columnist. He was born in Moscow in 1967 and has lived in Germany for more than 30 years. His most famous works include “Russian disco“. His new book was recently released “How do I tell my mother. The new world explained: from gender asterisks to organic seals“.
Anyone who calls for peace today is considered an enemy of the state. With this declaration, the long-standing struggle of the Russian Ecological Party, which is dependent on Putin, and the Ministry of Nature (there is actually such a ministry in Russia) against Greenpeace has come to a successful end. Within a relatively short period of time Greenpeace has managed to run into almost every oligarch, every governor and every state company in Russia, but that’s finally over, the Ministry of Nature rubs its hands.
It is an open secret that Russian state capitalism thrives on exploiting resources and selling them abroad. No war, no sanctions and no Greenpeace have the oil and gas pumping that can significantly affect deforestation. No one is under the illusion that the big country will switch to the production of technical devices, drinks or clothing in the foreseeable future.
Always where it is most beautiful
If, before the war, the Russian weapons systems were still considered competitive, that is now a thing of the past – after the whole world was able to “admire” them in action. Resource exploitation has been and remains the macroeconomic pillar of power in Russia, no matter who governs. The exploitation of nature is not understood by the majority of the population as a crime, but as the price for successful action.
The Russians like their nature, the way they like lambs in the Caucasus, not for cuddling, but for eating. As soon as people have power or get money, they want to build their big castles in the middle of the bio-reserves, they want to hunt and fish and have a barbecue in the forest, the summer forest fires in Siberia are legendary.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Nature is constantly working to relax the maximum values set by ecologists for chemical waste products in the water and in the air. Better yet, revise it far, far down, because the more poisons a chemical plant is allowed to flush out, the higher its profits will be.
Before the attack on Ukraine, several governors in the regions fell from helicopters while hunting. It was the hottest fashion of the season: helicopter hunting of mountain goats in the nature reserve, they are a rare, protected animal species. But the goats were not protected from the governors.
I think it went like this: each individual sovereign, as soon as he came to power, first asked himself what this power could bring him personally. He wanted to do something that a mere mortal was forbidden to do, such as shoot automatic weapons at the mountain goats from a helicopter, an exciting and dangerous Russian safari.
Then it went down
But because hardly any governor had any experience in handling automatic weapons – and accordingly did not expect the strong recoil – sovereigns who were not wearing their seat belts regularly fell out of the helicopter and onto the goats. To be fair, however, it must be said that even the ordinary citizens who live near the nature protection zones do not have much desire for nature protection.
