The world is watching with suspense what has been happening beyond our eastern border for several weeks. The Russian invasion of Ukraine will have enormous consequences, also for the industrial automation industry.
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What has already happened in this context and what still awaits us, many pages have already been written and countless comments have been made. At Automation Trader, we also decided to seek a professional opinion, especially as the topic goes far beyond what is happening in Ukraine. So we asked one of the most renowned experts in the country for their opinion.
Fighting tigers
Radosław Pyffel, because we are talking about him, spent years learning about China and the specifics of Asian business and geopolitical relationships. No wonder that in the context of Russian aggression, he very quickly managed to find a much broader perspective. - You have to realize that both the Chinese and the Americans perceive what is happening directly behind our eastern border as an element of their mutual competition - said our guest.
While Americans are heavily involved in recent events, they are much more restrained behind the Great Wall. They do not want to call aggression directly, in the opinion of the Russians they choose their words very carefully, and most importantly, they are in no hurry to join the ranks of all those countries that are in the front line of hitting Moscow with sanctions.
- There is a Chinese sentence „sit on a hill and watch tigers fight” and that is exactly what Beijing is doing at the moment - Pyffel added.
Madness in the markets
One of the first quite tangible consequences of the war is of course, what has been going on in the markets of raw materials and fuels for several weeks. In the former case, this is nothing new, as the pandemic has already brought many threats. The attack on Ukraine only exacerbated this phenomenon, and higher prices are a big blow to many industries, including industrial automation. - What is happening with fuels and raw materials is absolutely crazy - said Radosław Pyffel. - In this particular sense, China looks pretty good - he added.
The reason why the Chinese can now observe the proverbial fighting tigers with much greater ease is, of course, the fact that over the years of their expansion, they have gained such necessary comfort. - China's resource diversification is at a really good level. Their dependence on Russia is much smaller than that of European countries, such as Germany, whose almost entire economy is based on raw materials from Russia. And this is a real tragedy - he continued.
- As for tearing commercial chains, this is not a completely new phenomenon. It must be remembered that its origins date back to 2015, the time when Donald Trump came to power in the United States. This is happening now is just another scene - said Radosław Pyffel.
Poland is not an island
Of course, the world turmoil did not go unnoticed in Poland, which not only became practically a frontal country almost overnight, but is also quite strongly connected by the system of vessels with all the actors of what we have been witnessing for several weeks. - It turned out that we are not impregnated with what is happening in the world. You can see it clearly, if only from the perspective of the fact that even several million Ukrainians will permanently settle in Poland - he said.
As you can see, the global web of all dependencies, which has been woven with such attention for many decades, today faces very serious problems. The pandemic and the war only deepened them, and the question of what else may await us in the near future is a great unknown.
You can find the entire intreview with Radosław Pyffel below.
