Vladimir Putin visits the north of Russia – to stroke cones

Visit to Arkhangelsk
Putin visits the far north of Russia – to stroke cones

With a visit to Arkhangelsk, Vladimir Putin wanted to drum up publicity for the Russian timber industry. Instead, he once again caused strange scenes.

Vladimir Putin is very reluctant to leave his bunker, i.e. his residence in Nowo-Ogaryovo. And yet the head of the Kremlin cannot avoid showing up in his vast empire from time to time. After all, it is his responsibility here to ensure order and to keep his subordinates on a tight leash. And so Putin made a small visit to the Arkhangelsk region.

The far north of Russia is “one of the traditional and leading centers of the local timber industry,” enthused Putin. He walked leisurely through the halls of the Ustyansk timber industrial complex. In the past, the “high-quality boards” produced here were mainly exported to Western European countries. Today, the focus is primarily on eastern markets, explained the CEO of the operating group of companies, Vladimir Butorin, to the Russian head of state.

“We buy cones, fill them in here and sort them,” he explained to Putin about the production process, while the Kremlin boss patted the cones.

Butorin doesn’t need Europe, but state aid

The biggest customer is China, Butorin later picked up the thread again. “This year I’ve convinced myself that we can get along wonderfully without Europe,” he rattled off the Kremlin mantra in front of the television cameras. Only to ask Putin for help a little later.

All of Russia’s timber industry, and especially companies in the north-west of the country, are facing difficulties due to sanctions, he admitted. “We urgently need government help. The Russian government has already done a lot to support the forest industry. And the support measures that are being implemented today are of great help to us,” Butorin said. But further measures are necessary.

It is mainly about transport subsidies. So far, the Russian government has granted each company in the timber industry up to 500 million rubles in transport subsidies. According to the current exchange rate, it is almost 6.4 million euros. Putin assured that this aid should be continued. “The most important thing is the stability of the conditions. So we have to keep the support parameters, maybe increase them somewhere. At least colleagues who work in this industry must be guaranteed that this support measure (transport subsidy) will continue for at least three years,” he said Kremlin chief.

Vladimir Putin and the cones

While the Russian state media didn’t bother to resolve the contradiction between an allegedly flourishing timber industry and the necessary state aid, another detail became the focus of viewers: the cones, which Putin lovingly patted.

The sequence spread like wildfire on social networks and caused amused comments. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the old senile told the spigots about NATO expansion, the Nazis in Ukraine and deadly bio-mosquitoes,” wrote one user on Twitter.

“Putin and cones. What is happening here? Are they weapons?” asked another user sarcastically. A further comment summarizes the absurdity of what is happening from a Russian point of view: “Hundreds of Russian soldiers are currently dying in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the supreme commander of the Russian army, Putin, is examining cones under the supervision of security guards.”

Mercedes instead of Lada

But it’s not just Putin’s spigots that are nagging at Russians. As always, Putin arrived with a large entourage for his visit. Twelve cars with tinted windows suddenly rolled through the Russian wasteland. All, without exception, brands from the West that Putin had long wanted to have replaced throughout the country: Mercedes, Volkswagen, Toyota.

“Where is Putin’s yellow Lada Kalina?” local residents ask themselves in view of the “NATO bodies”. In 2010, Putin took a spin through this area in a car made by the Russian manufacturer AvtoVAZ.

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