From Kommersant, March 27, 2026, p. 1. Condensed text:

Editors’ Note. – On March 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at the Rossia national center to participate in the plenary session at the 35th congress of the RUIE [Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs]. Kommersant special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov was once again relieved to confirm that prosperity hinges on sovereignty and that taxes will no longer be raised, but administered. At least that’s how Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov put it.

* * *

This year’s RUIE congress was held at the Rossia national center, which hosts many other events attended by the Russian president. Apparently, everything is arranged very comfortably here and nothing raises any issues for anyone – especially for him.

The defining feature of this particular congress was how it started. After all, it was on that day that some equipment got the better of a technician: The national anthem was supposed to start playing, some people had already started to stand up, and newly reelected (for another five years) RUIE president Aleksandr Shokhin had even started singing the lyrics when the sound cut out. But Mr. Shokhin conducted himself with defiant courage: Standing near the microphone, he started to sing a capella, which immediately brought to mind that history-making dance performed by Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev at the [1973 figure skating] world championships in Bratislava, when the music stopped but they continued dancing in silence to the end, to spite their enemies and death. . . .

After delivering a brief welcome speech (although what more could be left to say after such a powerful performance), Aleksandr Shokhin gave the floor to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who we were told was due to travel with Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov to the State Duma, where Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina would be speaking that day.

“Therefore, I would like to break the usual order of proceedings and invite Finance Minister Anton Germanovich Siluanov to set the tone for today’s discussion and speak about how the government will restore economic growth while fighting inflation,” Aleksandr Shokhin said.

Anton Siluanov appeared to be in a good mood. In any case, he was actually smiling.

“Our positions are completely aligned,” he announced. “Aleksandr Nikolayevich [Shokin] said that the RUIE is optimistic about the future, and we also see great prospects! The base rate that we use to create the budget and set a ceiling on oil prices impacts transactions on the foreign exchange market, and this is a concern for everyone. We want inflation to be low so that rates aren’t high. We want a predictable, balanced exchange rate!”

Someone in the audience started clapping prematurely. Yes, that’s exactly what everyone there wanted.

“We are working very hard on expenses, reviewing past decisions and implementing so-called zero budgeting while preserving our priorities for technological sovereignty and for developing a more targeted approach to the distribution of social assistance measures,” Anton Siluanov reported, while Aleksandr Shokhin, who was sitting in a chair, struggled with his tablet: There were, naturally, connectivity issues that day. “First and foremost, this means improving administration.”

Anton Siluanov explained to the businesspeople that they should take their companies public, and this time not even a semblance of applause could be heard.

“By going public today, you will secure higher capitalization for your company in the future,” the minister insisted. “And public companies always mean great trust and transparency.”

But, no, apparently not everyone there was dreaming of greater transparency and hard-won trust. Most people were just hoping to survive.

“Dear friends! These are challenging times, but times like this also give us the opportunity to make decisions that will help develop businesses,” Anton Siluanov said, rallying the delegates at the congress. “I wish you all the best!”

He was about to step away from the microphone, when Aleksandr Shokhin stopped him:

“What about questions?! At least one. Are you going to raise taxes?!”

Anton Siluanov didn’t appreciate this question very much.

“While I was speaking, you were reading something in a little book,” he said, rebuking Mr. Shokhin. “You were probably looking over your next speech.”

It seemed to me that the minister was not far from the truth, but evidently it was more important for the RUIE president to get an answer than to immediately respond to this as well.

“I said the following,” Anton Siluanov said. “Our task is to ensure a balanced budget, primarily by working on expenses and then by improving administration.”

“Do you mean improving the economy, where the most important thing is to increase the tax collection rate, by improving administration?” Aleksandr Shokhin tried to clarify.

“Yes, exactly! That is exactly how we made two such changes to the tax system in previous years. Right now, we are focusing on implementing the decisions that were adopted and monitoring the business climate. Our main task today is to improve administration! We hope that improved administration will not affect the interests of honest business owners.”

The hint of a threat did come through in his words at the end, after all. . . .

Meanwhile, in the lobby outside the auditorium, presidential special representative Kirill Dmitriyev was holding court with the roughly 100 journalists clustered around, explaining that “Russia has the largest resources in the world, the largest oil and gas reserves, which naturally strengthens our position on global markets, and Russia will certainly eventually receive many requests from Europe, from the UK and will decide whether to supply them or not. And Europe will be begging for Russian energy!”

And energy will thus quietly flow to the Global South.

Kirill Dmitriyev was, as usual, exuding his famous optimism.

“And we are currently discussing many large-scale projects.” This, he continued, “gives rise to hatred and anger among our enemies and foes, who are attempting to derail any dialogue about energy with Russia! They are furious! They don’t understand why the US isn’t imposing the even more powerful sanctions they have been asking for over a year! And as for Russian reserves, they haven’t been seized by Europe, either, and here we can note the constructive, positive role the US has played in this!”

Ah, so that’s whom we have to thank.

“This is positive for Russia,” Mr. Dmitriyev added, “so that later it will have funds to rebuild regions that have suffered from combat operations.”

Yes, Kirill Dmitriyev also looked like he was in fighting form.

Meanwhile, even more dramatic events were unfolding on the stage. Someone casually mentioned voting for Aleksandr Shokhin to become RUIE president for another five years, and somehow nobody in the audience was opposed. In other words, it could be assumed that everyone was in favor. . . .

While Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin was reporting on his Telegram channel that drones heading for Moscow were being shot down one after the other, the RUIE plenary session was peacefully under way in the auditorium, and President Putin had already arrived there at the Rossia national center.

But first Aleksandr Shokin himself spoke.

“We expect that the downward trend in interest rates will be consistently maintained,” he said with the president already in the audience. “But there are, of course, some sensitivity thresholds when the rate stops being a barrier to investments, and, naturally, the government, the Central Bank and businesses will have to work together to identify this threshold and hopefully cross it.”

He apparently meant that they had already identified it.

“Another topic of interest to the business world is that the revision of the budgetary rule has been moved forward to the fall, but many issues related to this rule are still affecting the ruble exchange rate, and, consequently, the potential to earn revenue from exports, which is important for the budget, among other things (not to mention businesspeople – A.K.), and, of course, the process of import substitution should also be kept in mind.”

Aleksandr Shokhin also decided to say his piece about what could be called the most painful problem for Moscow at the moment:

“A separate topic is the restrictions on mobile Internet access, which have complicated life for businesses and citizens. We of course understand that these questions are related to the country’s security, to the need to ensure that the Web sites on whitelists are working properly, but considering the high level to which mobile technologies have penetrated our daily lives, we hope that a balanced, systematic solution can be found, although we understand that this is no easy task.” . . .

Aleksandr Shokhin invited the country’s president to speak. The latter headed toward the microphone, but the RUIE president stopped him:

“That one over there is for you.”

A podium stood on the side that had apparently been deemed a “clean zone.”

“I haven’t been allowed near that podium the entire time!” an aggrieved Aleksandr Shokhin assured him.

“I meet with some, or many, of you here today on a regular basis. We discuss the most pressing problems for your companies,” Vladimir Putin said upon reaching the microphone. “Some work directly with the Russian government, with administration staff, on a regular basis, so we’re all, as they say, in the know. I’m not going to tell you anything revolutionary. But nevertheless, Aleksandr Nikolayevich (Mr. Shokin – A.K.) believes it is still advisable to hold such meetings – they are not often held in such a large format.”

If that’s what Aleksandr Nikolayevich thinks, then that’s how it will be.

It’s surprising that Vladimir Putin still believes it is necessary to explain why the special operation in Ukraine began in 2014. He clearly believes that there is something he hasn’t fully explained; something about this story is still bothering him. He wants to be canonically correct and continues to reinforce this version in people’s minds (not to mention hearts).

“We all know very well the events of 2014, when we were compelled, when Russia was compelled, when we were forced – and I’ve spoken about this many times – to take all the necessary measures to protect our people in the Crimea and, later, in southeastern Ukraine in general. But then came illegal sanctions! I want to stress that they were illegal because they were never approved by UN resolutions. And now, on top of this, the armed conflict in the Middle East is making an even more noticeable contribution to the situation today, and is dealing significant damage to international logistics and production and supply chains. Entire industries related to the extraction and processing of hydrocarbons and metals, as well as the production of fertilizers and many other goods and commodities, have been hit hard!”

Vladimir Putin, it must be said, moved quickly to events in Iran.

“It is still difficult to predict exactly what the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East will be,” he said, and this was interesting because he had never once previously addressed these events as part of a larger picture. “I think that those involved in the conflict cannot predict anything themselves, but it is even more complicated for us (maybe that’s why he has never addressed these events – A.K.). Nevertheless, we must live under the circumstances in which these events are occurring. However, some are already saying that these circumstances can be compared to the coronavirus pandemic, which, as you may recall, slammed the brakes on development across all regions and continents.”

The Russian president also appears to have taken a dramatic view of the situation.

“It is no coincidence that parallels have been drawn with the recent pandemic,” he said. “The events the global community has faced in recent years show that upheavals in trade and investment, in international relations in general, are occurring with increasing frequency, becoming the new reality and bringing the entire global economy into a new state. What must Russia be to rise to the challenge of the times? It must be strong! We talk about this all the time, face to face!” . . .

“Now, when prices for our traditional exports are rising but the markets are in turmoil, we may be tempted to take advantage of the situation, to generate opportunistic profits and, as they say, to squander them on dividends (Sberbank, take note – A.K.) or, in the case of the state, inflate budgetary spending and expenditures. I have already said this on some occasions publicly, but I want to emphasize it for this audience: We must remain prudent! If the markets swing in one direction today, they can swing in the other the next. The people here are very knowledgeable and experienced, there are no outsiders here, you understand this perfectly well, which means that there must be a moderate degree of conservatism in the corporate sphere and in public finance!”

And then we heard an ode to sovereignty: “I don’t think anyone has any doubt about what sovereignty means in today’s world, about what it is worth and about the consequences that have arisen for those countries that at one point voluntarily relinquished that sovereignty, believing that it would bring greater peace of mind and cheaper living conditions and that it could create better conditions for development – both economic and social. But, no, the world works differently: It is impossible to protect one’s own interests without sovereignty!” . . .