Statement by Aleksandr Pankin, deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, at the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting on “Fighting Inequalities”, Rio de Janeiro, July 23, 2024

Unofficial translation

Distinguished colleagues,

Overcoming inequalities within and among countries remains the most important priority. The G20, as an economic forum, should play a key role in this endeavour. It is necessary to ensure that the SDGs are achieved in their entirety and for the benefit of everyone. Developing countries should not be confronted with a tricky choice between fighting either poverty or climate change.

Definitely, today’s G20 Ministerial meeting is not a proper place to engage in geopolitical debates on causes of wars and conflicts. We need to focus on issues at hand if we want G20 to play significant role.

In recent decades, we have seen tangible progress in reducing inequality levels in certain areas. Last year, for example, the BRICS countries were well ahead of the G7 in terms of global GDP share (35 percent against 30 percent, respectively). Still, additional steps are needed to remedy the situation. The creation of the G20 has greatly contributed to the democratization of global governance. The African Union's recent joining the G20 as a new member has been another significant achievement.

Other positive developments are also taking place. Today, the G20 is increasingly relying on universal mechanisms, such as the UN, rather than on behind-the-scenes West-driven arrangements, standards and club formats. This is how, for example, work on the thematic tracks on Tax Cooperation and Combatting Corruption is being carried out.

Russia has been consistently gaining ground in the global economic system. According to the World Bank, we have ranked among the top five largest economies, become a high-income country and one of the ten most profitable exporters. We are continuously improving the Russian manufacturing sector. We are enhancing our technological sovereignty, increasing the output of high value‑added products, and developing unique professional competencies.

We guarantee a reliable supply of energy, food and fertilizers to foreign consumers and offer them digital services, programmes and engineering solutions that are unaffected by political fluctuations. We intend to expand the range of supplies of knowledge-intensive and complex goods.

We will further promote the initiative of Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation to shape the Greater Eurasian Partnership. We expect significant benefits from the conjunction of regulatory regimes, infrastructure projects and trade liberalization within its framework. We plan to use for these purposes the opportunities offered by the Eurasian Economic Union, Shanghai cooperation organisation, ASEAN and bilateral agreements reached by leaders, including those with India and China on the development of transport corridors, payment mechanisms and infrastructure projects.

We are convinced that zero-sum games, trade wars, unilateral sanctions and other instances of unfair competition and suppression of dissent are inherently flawed. We believe that the monopoly of the dollar, the dominance of Western corporations and their control over supply chains are dangerous. We deem it necessary to reform the IMF and the World Bank, so that one single country has no veto power in Bretton Woods Institutions, restore the activities of the WTO, which Washington has unilaterally blocked, and ensure free trade system. This is of particular relevance now when the United States and the EU are racing to impose trade barriers and cross-border taxes under the pretext of environmental and climate considerations while massively subsidizing their industries under the guise of fighting inflation.

We need a sober assessment of energy transitions. Renewable energy is not a sole and magic pill. It is both dangerous and reckless to dismiss natural gas as a transit fuel, discard the benefits of the peaceful nuclear energy, hydrogen, greenhouse gas capture technologies, and the absorption capacity of forests. We have to realize the futility of the collective efforts by the West to preserve its dominance by imposing sanctions and rearranging supply chains. Such confrontation will not demolish the development path of the Global South, but it may cause painful rollbacks on economic gains worldwide.

Strengthening the production capacities and human resources of developing countries and increasing gains is of crucial importance. This would allow to put an end to the situation, when, according to the Africans themselves, for ages the continent has been supplying raw materials and agricultural stuff to the West, which has been profiting from it. A vivid example by one African leader: Africa gets less than 6 percent of the USD 46 billion from global sales of African grown coffee.

It is high time to put an end to these neo-colonial practices. We should focus efforts on strengthening the industrial sector of the Global South and East, increasing the funding of their healthcare and education, digitalization, and expanding university and student exchanges. We have actively advocated these ideas within BRICS partners as well as in the Russia-Africa format. Developed countries, according to their own pledges, are expected to allocate at least 0.7 percent of GDP to development assistance, which has been stagnating.

The issue of reforming global economic institutions, in particular redistributing quotas and votes within the IMF and the World Bank, liberalizing agricultural trade using the WTO mechanism and providing other incentives to developing countries, is getting more urgent. The world economy must again become open, sustainable, and independent and free of exceptionalism of individual countries.

Geopolitical games played by the West may lead to an irreparable fragmentation of the world economy and further fuel inequality. Our societies will thus be doomed to utter impoverishment and radicalization. The G20 can and must put a firm stop to that, bringing us back on the path of multilateralism. The key to our success is to reaffirm adherence to the UN Charter, international law and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Thank you.