Russian businessman: Kremlin destroys food to divert attention and 'troll' society
Why have the Russian authorities set to destroy food products in such an enthusiastic way? Belsat TV asks Russian Businessman Dmitry Potapenko, the owner of the retail food store chain ‘Pyatyorochka’.
Dmitry Potapenko: The key factor is distracting citizens from the real problems. You must admit that in this case people are more interesting in watching it [destruction of food] on TV than in rises in payments for housing and public utility services. <..> Let me remind, this summer our fellow citizens have faced an increase in payments for housing and communal services by 11%. Our fellow citizens were made to fork out money for repairing and renovation of their blocks of flats. My utility bill has increased by 50%. And this is important. In any country, the economic authorities would have been jailed if they allowed such escalation.
What is the purpose of the Russian authorities?
Dmitry Potapenko: They just want to divert people’s attention, it is a purely ideological task, this is not about economy. They are destroying food products in order to, roughly speaking, ‘troll’ society, and Russian society yield to such trolling.
