Russia’s import-dependent economy is trying to gain access to foreign goods by any possible means. Who and how helps it in this? The Russians do not hide that the fate of Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of  Korea (DPRK) awaits them. It is not by chance that Russian businessmen began to travel to Iran to study its experience. The ability to circumvent sanctions is a matter of survival for the aggressor country. It develops the technological industry, produces modern weapons and avoids chaos in the foreign exchange market thanks to imports from “unfriendly” countries. Russia has found a way to partially circumvent imports sanctions and trade with the world, financing the war in Ukraine. Who helps the Kremlin to circumvent sanctions and is it possible to close holes in them? Import sanctions are one of the most powerful Many companies have stopped importing goods to Russia since February 24. Some of them were affected by financial sanctions, some by the embargo on goods, and some decided to leave the toxic Russian market, severing supply chains. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov recently announced that imports into the country had decreased by 30%. This is one of the most serious blows to  Putin’s regime. Why? Firstly, due to the reduction of imports, the ruble rate strengthened significantly. What is bad about this for the Russian authorities? The fact is that the economy of the aggressor country receives large foreign currency revenues from the sale of oil and gas, which it cannot spend because no one wants to trade with the Russians. As a result, the dollar became useless on the foreign exchange market in the Russian Federation and quickly fell in price. Because of this, oil and gas exporters receive fewer rubles for each dollar raised, and the state budget does not receive the revenues provided for in it. The report of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation predicts that a barrel of oil in 2022 will cost 62 dollars at an exchange rate of 72 rubles per dollar. That is, the Russian economy should receive an average of 4,500 rubles from the sale of a barrel of oil.   However, the American currency costs 58 rubles, and Russian oil – 72 dollars. That is, 4,200 rubles are received from the sale of a barrel of black gold. Therefore, the Russian currency cannot weaken thanks to import sanctions, and the budget and state funds cannot receive excess profits from the sale of oil. More than 1,000 companies left Russia, but not all of them stopped doing business Secondly, Russian enterprises are declining. When foreign companies left Russia, they broke their supply chains. No one can restore them due to sanctions. For example, the automobile company “AvtoVAZ” is forced to close factories and produce old models of cars. The reason is the cessation of supplies of spare parts and electronics. The company reduced 2,000 workers at the plant in Izhevsk in September. Previously, this enterprise assembled the LADA Vesta model, and now it will produce only body panels and plastic components. The Martur plant, which produced seats for French cars in Ulyanovsk closed, due to the exit of Renault from the Russian market. The fate of another 19 enterprises in the region that worked on this conveyor will be unknown. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, the production of cars fell by 89%, refrigerators by 52.3%, washing machines by 58.4%, and televisions by 49.7% in June, compared to the same month in 2021. “We will ride on the Zhiguli [car brand – ed.]”: what will the Russians be left with after the invasion of Ukraine Thirdly,...