Ukrainian Ambassador to the Philippines Olexander Nechytaylo appealed to Filipino companies to weigh the “moral aspect” of doing business with Russia amid the continuing war in the country.
“It’s not right to pay taxes in a country that is using that money to continue the bloody war and the war against humanity. Some do it for a very practical reason because the international community imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia. You have to understand that this level of sanctions has never been imposed on any country before,” he said in a media roundtable.
“If you compare the potential revenue or potential profit of continuing working with Russia, and if you compare the potential loss, the loss would be much more. Therefore I call upon the Philippine business community to cease the business operations in Russia,” he added.
Nechytaylo said the global economy would remain volatile as long as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues.
While Kyiv is far from Southeast Asia, he said the war also affects the region in many other ways, including in the area of food security.
“Wheat constitutes the largest commodity that we sell to the Philippines, so obviously with the war taking place in Ukraine, these kinds of supplies can be disrupted. And it may lead to or have already led, perhaps to the increase of the price for the food,” he said.
“(Another) consequence is not just the food security, but also the increase of the global price or the volatility of the global economy. You’ve already seen the increase in the price of petroleum and other energy sources so it’s going to have a tremendous global impact. That’s one of the reasons why we believe the international community should care,” he added.
Nechytaylo also urged Filipinos to help fight disinformation about the war.
He said back in Ukraine, his immediate family witnessed first-hand how the Russian military strikes pulverized homes and buildings in their community.
He said his friend’s daughter, a 14-year-old national weightlifting champion, was also one of the strikes’ civilian casualties.
The envoy said since the beginning, the war with Russia was not only a fight between Kyiv and Moscow but a “war between autocracy and democracy”.
“This is the battle of values and we believe those countries who propagate and advocate democratic values should be on the side of international law and on the side of justice,” he said.– PNA
