Despite Putin’s War in Ukraine, 12 Russian Defense Firms have Gone Bankrupt This Year

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 8 – In most countries at war, companies which produce equipment for the military don’t go bankrupt. Instead, they often achieve record profits. But in Putin’s Russia, 12 defense firms have gone bankrupt so far this year, forcing the government to take special measures to prevent the selling off of their assets from affecting the country’s defense posture.

            Sergey Mironov, head of the Just Russia-For Truth party, has called on the government to stop the bankruptcy proceedings and to take action to save these firms and keep them functioning before their closure has an impact on defense production and employment (iarex.ru/articles/87204.html)

            An analysis of the situation of these firms carried out by Regnum journalist Anastasiya Stepanova shows that the problems these companies have did not begin this year but months or even years earlier. However, the demands of military production and Western sanctions appear to have pushed them over the brink.

            At the very least, this report of bankruptcies in the defense sector highlights significant problems in the Russian economy, even in its most critical sectors, and represents yet another way in which difficulties within the Russian economy and political system are acting as constraints on the ability of Moscow to prosecute its continuing aggression in Ukraine.