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Exactly. If you notice, the second and third place are taken by Lithuania and Latvia respectively. A lot of 'cheapness' in all kinds of sectors came from RUS/UK

Exactly. If you notice, the second and third place are taken by Lithuania and Latvia respectively. A lot of 'cheapness' in all kinds of sectors came from RUS/UKR/BEL somewhere upstream. Building materials being a prime example. So, a combined effect of energy prices, sanctions on RUS, a war raging in Ukraine. But then, as Estonian prime minister said recently - sure, gas is expensive, but freedom is priceless.

foverzar 4y ago
> gas is expensive, but freedom is priceless. Typical politicians excuse, tbh. It's not like this has any relation to actual freedoms, only bs political slogans.
- puszczyk 4y ago
  Thanks for the honesty. And Estonia had a cheaper gas when they were part of the USSR. Any actual freedoms they might or might not have back then are only _bs political slogans_.
- slaw 4y ago
  I like your comment, too bad it is no longer visible on comments to article, only when I see your comments history.
- dijit 4y ago
  I think there is a very direct link to energy independence & control of supply chains and freedom. As much as I also hate political slogans, at least I'm not seeing a problem with this one given the context. Europe is just now seeing the effect of being less free than it's population thought it was.
- supertrope 4y ago
  Not being under Russian occupation seems like freedom to me. Although that's mostly due to NATO membership not sanctions.
  - jokethrowaway 4y ago
    It's just a war between two mafia gangs. Sure it sucks when one invades another one and there are reasons to prefer one vs another (eg. I'd rather be in EU than in Russia or China; I'd rather be in the Bahamas than in EU) but the people's freedom is limited under any government.
- pllbnk 4y ago
  That wouldn't be your view if you were living in the Baltics. Trying to get away from Russian influence has been a persistent battle for the past 30 years. Sure, people are not happy about the rising prices but so far inflation news has been overshadowed by the war news. The public's support of Ukraine and a chance to see Russia finally weakened and no longer being a threat in the coming decades is seen very positively.
rjzzleep 4y ago
I'm sorry, but the Estonian prime minister is a Eurocrat idiot that lacks basic understanding of how either military or economy work or operate. You want to be independent of Hydrocarbons and Russian commodities? Okay well the Chinese model of silently building up the capabilities to do that is one way to approach the issue. France is an even better example of the idiocy of this as France had one of the most advanced nuclear facilities on the globe. And instead of investing in it, Macron sold it off to GE, further crippling its own ability to say goodbye to Russia. Who's advising these people that they don't even have the most basic understanding of how fertilizers tie into the food supply. I used to think that all we need in Government is fresh wind which will solve most our problems, but I'm realizing that age isn't by itself either the problem or the solution. See Biden for old age or Europe for young age destructive leadership. Apparently not all wind is fresh and some of it is rotten and smells like sewage. I'm completely baffled at how people cannot comprehend basic co-dependencies in the economies, supply chain or whatever other part that is happening. The whole "we need to suffer to show a moral lesson" is easy for people to say that have had nothing to sacrifice and never had to work hard for anything in their life while never in history have so many people dropped out of the middle class in European societies. EDIT: Don't drink your own kool-aid, is a good summary I've been given about the whole situation. European leaders massively overestimating their own importance and capability in the world(both economic and military) based on their own inflated GDP numbers and MIC commercials. EDIT 2: It's unfortunate that even in such a platform there is no rational thinking about something that is objectively true based on propaganda that actually came from the other side. "Russia is this" "Russia is that". Facts are still facts. You need fertilizer to feed people. Fertilizers are byproducts of Gas production. Fertilizer prices have been rising because of dis-incentivization of hydrocarbons. Nuclear is still a lot cleaner than most of the green energy alternatives. It didn't start in February 2022 even though the white house would like you to believe that[1]. Even the Ombudsman for human rights of Ukraine that was recently fired for constantly lying, said that she has been lying about Russian war crimes to turn public opinion against Russia[2]. EDIT 3: The US DoJ used the FCPA(Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) to threaten the Alstom leadership to sell off to GE. GE then buys the nuclear business and dismantles its plants in 2019 contrary to previous promises[3]. For all the talk of "oh we'll just buy it back", it's unclear what exactly is being bought back, how much it costs to rebuild capabilities that were destroyed and how much of the IP is actually sold back. My guess is, very little. It's odd that people act like it's just a little blip, when it's very clearly an geopolitical attack on one of the most important parts of french infrastructure. [1] https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2022/01/12/report-analyzes-record-high-fertilizer-prices/ https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2022/01/12/report-analyzes-re... [2] https://lb.ua/news/2022/06/03/518875_lyudmila_denisova_azovtsi_z.html https://lb.ua/news/2022/06/03/518875_lyudmila_denisova_azovt... [3] https://www.entreprendre.fr/alstom-general-electric-le-piege-americain/ https://www.entreprendre.fr/alstom-general-electric-le-piege...

foverzar 4y ago

> gas is expensive, but freedom is priceless. Typical politicians excuse, tbh. It's not like this has any relation to actual freedoms, only bs political slogans.

puszczyk 4y ago
Thanks for the honesty. And Estonia had a cheaper gas when they were part of the USSR. Any actual freedoms they might or might not have back then are only _bs political slogans_.
slaw 4y ago
I like your comment, too bad it is no longer visible on comments to article, only when I see your comments history.
dijit 4y ago
I think there is a very direct link to energy independence & control of supply chains and freedom. As much as I also hate political slogans, at least I'm not seeing a problem with this one given the context. Europe is just now seeing the effect of being less free than it's population thought it was.
supertrope 4y ago
Not being under Russian occupation seems like freedom to me. Although that's mostly due to NATO membership not sanctions.
- jokethrowaway 4y ago
  It's just a war between two mafia gangs. Sure it sucks when one invades another one and there are reasons to prefer one vs another (eg. I'd rather be in EU than in Russia or China; I'd rather be in the Bahamas than in EU) but the people's freedom is limited under any government.
pllbnk 4y ago
That wouldn't be your view if you were living in the Baltics. Trying to get away from Russian influence has been a persistent battle for the past 30 years. Sure, people are not happy about the rising prices but so far inflation news has been overshadowed by the war news. The public's support of Ukraine and a chance to see Russia finally weakened and no longer being a threat in the coming decades is seen very positively.

rjzzleep 4y ago

I'm sorry, but the Estonian prime minister is a Eurocrat idiot that lacks basic understanding of how either military or economy work or operate. You want to be independent of Hydrocarbons and Russian commodities? Okay well the Chinese model of silently building up the capabilities to do that is one way to approach the issue. France is an even better example of the idiocy of this as France had one of the most advanced nuclear facilities on the globe. And instead of investing in it, Macron sold it off to GE, further crippling its own ability to say goodbye to Russia. Who's advising these people that they don't even have the most basic understanding of how fertilizers tie into the food supply. I used to think that all we need in Government is fresh wind which will solve most our problems, but I'm realizing that age isn't by itself either the problem or the solution. See Biden for old age or Europe for young age destructive leadership. Apparently not all wind is fresh and some of it is rotten and smells like sewage. I'm completely baffled at how people cannot comprehend basic co-dependencies in the economies, supply chain or whatever other part that is happening. The whole "we need to suffer to show a moral lesson" is easy for people to say that have had nothing to sacrifice and never had to work hard for anything in their life while never in history have so many people dropped out of the middle class in European societies. EDIT: Don't drink your own kool-aid, is a good summary I've been given about the whole situation. European leaders massively overestimating their own importance and capability in the world(both economic and military) based on their own inflated GDP numbers and MIC commercials. EDIT 2: It's unfortunate that even in such a platform there is no rational thinking about something that is objectively true based on propaganda that actually came from the other side. "Russia is this" "Russia is that". Facts are still facts. You need fertilizer to feed people. Fertilizers are byproducts of Gas production. Fertilizer prices have been rising because of dis-incentivization of hydrocarbons. Nuclear is still a lot cleaner than most of the green energy alternatives. It didn't start in February 2022 even though the white house would like you to believe that[1]. Even the Ombudsman for human rights of Ukraine that was recently fired for constantly lying, said that she has been lying about Russian war crimes to turn public opinion against Russia[2]. EDIT 3: The US DoJ used the FCPA(Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) to threaten the Alstom leadership to sell off to GE. GE then buys the nuclear business and dismantles its plants in 2019 contrary to previous promises[3]. For all the talk of "oh we'll just buy it back", it's unclear what exactly is being bought back, how much it costs to rebuild capabilities that were destroyed and how much of the IP is actually sold back. My guess is, very little. It's odd that people act like it's just a little blip, when it's very clearly an geopolitical attack on one of the most important parts of french infrastructure. [1] https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2022/01/12/report-analyzes-record-high-fertilizer-prices/ https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2022/01/12/report-analyzes-re... [2] https://lb.ua/news/2022/06/03/518875_lyudmila_denisova_azovtsi_z.html https://lb.ua/news/2022/06/03/518875_lyudmila_denisova_azovt... [3] https://www.entreprendre.fr/alstom-general-electric-le-piege-americain/ https://www.entreprendre.fr/alstom-general-electric-le-piege...