Anastasia Levchenko, Researcher of the Industrial Organization and Infrastructure Economics Department at the Gaidar Institute, commented for TASS on the impact of the Middle East conflict on the global economy. The expert highlighted risks that go beyond the usual rise in energy prices.
According to Anastasia Levchenko, the main threat is that high fuel prices triggered by the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, launch a destruction mechanism in other industrial sectors.
“The long-term high fuel prices can hit energy-intensive industries, such as chemical industry, metallurgy, fertilizer production and construction materials. "Rising production costs in these sectors inevitably reduce the price competitiveness of European manufacturers in the global market," the expert said. She noted that physical impossibility of supplying critical components (used in aircraft manufacturing and chip production, among other things) and disruption of logistics create additional pressure on manufacturers.