Russian Modelling companies

[trickydicky210]

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine plus the sanctions the west has put in place, it seems a little hypocritical that we can still get model kits from Russian countries here in the UK.
 

I know it’s a personal choice for each of us modellers to what we buy, but with so many members on here showing a Ukrainian flag on the avatar and/or posts, should we not encourage support for Russian companies by removing their wares from the rumourmonger, reviews etc ?
 

I know this will be controversial, but thought I would raise it.  

[Black Knight]

A large amount of what we buy in the shops was already either in suppliers stocks or on the way before the war started.

Suppliers had already paid for that stock. They need to get their investment back by us buying their stock. Very little, if any, of that money now goes back into Russia due to the sanctions imposed on the banks

Not buying the current stock hits the local supplier not the Russian economy.

As time goes on the pre-paid stock will be depleted

[spruecutter96]

We make the assumption in the West that all Russian people support their president's invasion of Ukraine. I very much doubt that is true and those that oppose it have no easy or safe way to express their views. 

 

Personally, I don't think we can blame Russian model-producers for the horrible actions of their government. 

 

Some of the German population despised their government of the late 1930's, but to express their views would have resulted in imprisonment or death. We should never take freedom-of-speech for granted - it is a privilege denied to many people around the world.   

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris. 

[spruecutter96]

As Black Knight has stated previously, if folks refuse to buy Russian-produced models, it will only have an effect on the revenue of UK suppliers and the manufacturers. The Russian government will be completely unaffected and oblivious to the boycott. 

 

Chris. 

[Mike]

We leave the decision to buy products from Russian model companies up to the individual, and suggest they keep their own counsel on the matter.  We don't get many review samples from Russian based companies, but the few we do we know to be decent honest people.

 

The only real effect we can have with sanctions will be with the oligarchs and the super-rich, as they're the only Russians with any modicum of influence on their deranged leader.

 

I'm gonna shut this down before some knee-jerk reaction gets people into trouble.