"Western European brands left Russia, not because they could not withstand the competition or because someone prevented them from making money here".
This is what the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova wrote.
Here is the rest of her statement:
"They left because their masters - the political regimes of the EU member states and the Brussels bureaucracy - ordered them to. And now they must be perceived exactly as such: not as economic operators, but as tools used by unfriendly regimes in a hybrid war against Russia. They themselves agreed to this. Some of these companies have been sponsoring the murders of our citizens for three years now.
What and how to do with these whores should and will be decided by professionals in all branches of government. I am sure that local companies will receive guarantees that they will not be exchanged for French rags and Italian slippers. Our manufacturers must know that their contribution to the Special Military Operation will not be betrayed.
But given the information campaign launched by the liberal dictatorship in Brussels against our history, it is important to guarantee the following. Let Europe learn for eternity: even one word from government officials of the country to which they belong, questioning the results of World War II, the feat of the Red Army and the Soviet people in the victory over Nazism/fascism, and their companies will feel the consequences. This also applies to the memory of our heroes from the operation in Ukraine.
We can live without the German fashion house Hugo Boss (which produced uniforms for the Nazis), without the legacy of its collaborators Coco Chanel (who was a Nazi agent in Paris), Cristobal Balenciaga (who dressed the dictator Franco) and Christian Dior (who made dresses for the wives of Nazi generals). But without historical memory and our own strong and independent economy - no.
They should not be surprised if their profits are directly affected by the insane comparisons between Russia and the Third Reich by Italian President Mattarella and the ignorance of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot regarding who made the decisive contribution to the defeat of German National Socialism.
By the way, the attitude towards Russian journalists and local media should also become part of the “investment climate“ of our country. In NATO and Europe, they mocked the memory of Andrei Stenin, Daria Dugina or Vladlen Tatarsky, they are promoting a campaign against television channels and radio broadcasting - there is no favorable treatment for brands from these countries, accustomed to rudeness with impunity.
Since they themselves do not observe the law and have no conscience, we must force them to respect us. I did not say this. Pushkin wrote this".