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Russian President Vladimir Putin reprimanded the governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov during a video conference call. The governor had to apologize for mentioning the «special military operation» in Ukraine among the causes of the construction industry crisis.
During the conversation, Putin drew Alikhanov's attention to a »generally quite noticeable reduction» in this sector of the economy. «What's the reason for it?» the president asked.
«Vladimir Vladimirovich, now, in view of the current moment, after the start of the special military operation, logistical links were temporarily severed. We were, after all, buying a lot abroad and focusing on transporting the goods through the territories of neighboring countries. It took us some time to adapt our supplies to the new realities. It's done now,» the governor answered.
His report did not please the president. «This special military operation of ours should not be invoked in this case. You don't have to do that because you already had a recession back in 2020-2021, with a noticeable decline in construction. Therefore, the special military operation in Donbass has absolutely nothing to do with it,» Putin assured.
The governor wanted to say something else in his defense and explain the words about the special operation, but Putin interrupted him. «Don't say it, I know that. It's just that thereference was, to put it bluntly, not very appropriate. Of course, there are additional complications, it's very understandable. But I've already said: a 48.9% decline in construction was in 2020-2021,» the Russian presidentstressed.
According to Rosstat, in February 2022 the Kaliningrad region ranked second among the Russian regions in terms of the rate of decline in construction compared to 2020. Only Kalmykia is ahead of the Kaliningrad region in that respect, its construction volume having dropped by 55%.