Putin told a story about a fisherman in Germany and "dirt from the east"

Russian President Vladimir Putin told a story about a fisherman in Germany and "mud from the east" at the VTB investment forum "Russia Calling!" on December 4, commenting on the effects of anti-Russian sanctions on German companies.

The President told how his coworker, talking to a German fisherman, asked about the fishing. The fisherman complained about the poor catch and attributed it to the east wind. Then the coworker, trying to make a joke, said that "all the dirt comes from the east". When asked by the German if he was a Pole, Putin's comrade replied, "Worse." The fisherman said nothing to that.

"Now, everything from the East is better than from the West. Look at the conditions that are being created for the German economy here in Russia and by your traditional allies and partners," Putin concluded.

Earlier in the day, Putin said that Volkswagen's withdrawal from Russia was in vain as the company faced problems. He noted that Russia had good relations with Germany for decades. According to him, the distinctive feature of German investments was investment in industry.

Earlier, on December 2, it became known that in Germany, workers of nine plants of the Volkswagen concern, producing cars and components, went on strike. It was specified that this contributed to the stoppage of assembly lines.

Prior to that, on October 30, Volkswagen during negotiations with the IG Metall union offered to cut workers' salaries by 10% to save jobs. The company said it could not meet the union's demands, which included a 7% wage increase and reinstatement of collective bargaining agreements. Before that, on October 29, Volkswagen and BMW employees began the first wave of strikes in Germany.

On October 28, Volkswagen Group said it was going to close three plants in Germany and cut tens of thousands of employees as part of reorganization and to reduce costs. It was reported that the measure will affect plants in Osnabrück, Dresden and Emden. In the government of Germany, the probable reason for these measures called wrong decisions of the concern's management and called to save as many jobs as possible.