THE decision by the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce to expel a Russian news organisation from its membership is a classic case of British industry cutting off its nose to spite its face.
In your report, a spokeswoman for the Chamber cited the "deteriorating relationship" between the UK and Russia as the reason behind its decision to expel Sputnik. If last year's 20 per cent growth in trade between the UK and Russia is anything to go by, the only deterioration will be in the prospects for Scottish exporters looking to do business with the largest country in the world. And in addition, to take action because of a deteriorating relationship will of course cause further deterioration.
All this is against a backdrop where an investigation has not yet been completed, nor evidence provided.
Given that a key element in the (apolitical) chamber's stated role is "supporting and leading businesses to grow in international markets", its decision to jump on to the political bandwagon is short-sighted, foolhardy and against the interests of its membership.
In more than 22 years of helping UK exporters to work with Russia, I have never witnessed the levels of hostility now being displayed towards Russia, nor the vitriolic rhetoric coming from the UK political establishment.
Russia is enjoying strong underlying economic growth and has always regarded the UK as being a quality supplier. Russia imports many UK products, many of which we have been responsible for.
There are significant UK interests in Russia including, for example, BP's large shareholding in the Russian oil giant Rosneft. The World Bank's latest Ease of Doing Business index ranks Russia as an easier place to do business than almost a dozen EU member states, including Italy and Belgium.
Politics is politics, and business is business. And ne'er the twain shall meet. Let's have some balance in this debate, and not forget that business organisations pandering to the public gallery and playing politics will damage business prospects in a competitive world where other countries are snapping at our heels for the business.
J. David Cant,
Managing Director, Albion (Overseas) Limited,
Baltic Chambers, 50 Wellington Street, Glasgow.
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