The Sri Lankan Government seems to be
completely at SEA with regards to the Russian Ban on Ceylon Tea, as it affects
over 25% of the Country’s Tea Exports. Before I forget, it is a wake-up call
for Sri Lanka to strategize and stop commoditizing tea and begin branding, so
that no matter what the Russians get up to, it is simply a case of “Putin,
putin a bullet into his footin!” If only Sri Lanka had properly branded
our tea, instead of allowing the Russians to buy and blend with cheap teas from
places like Turkey and Moldovia we would not be in this mess.
I will come to that later, but first we
must play our diplomatic game of chess, using the best diplomats we have to
advise the Foreign Office, or Ministry of Foreign Affairs on how to tackle this
issue on a Government to Government basis, INSTEAD of packing off, Navin
Dissanayake to play a tea game! As it is NOT TEA THAT IS THE REAL REASON
STUPID!
So what are the possible reasons?
1
It
is possible that we gave the Russian Delegation, short shrift and annoyed them
with a low level opposite number, or disregard to their principal aim, due to
ignorance as to the importance the Russians placed on losing this trade. The delegation came to discuss the ban on the
import of Chrysotile a major export of Russia, in the making of Asbestos
Roofing. Sri Lanka has banned the future production of Asbestos Sheets, and
cites health concerns, when in fact there are more practical reasons!
2
It
is also possible that the Maharajah Organization, is a considerable benefactor
of Maithripala Sirisena as their route to power, as they have vilified Ranil
Wickremasinghe for well-nigh more than a decade, and they have been pinned down
by the MR Sinhala only policies, is the reason the asbestos ban was put in the first
place.
3
The
reason being that Maharajah Organization is about to corner the roofing sheet market
replacing Asbestos by an alternative product, which is more expensive, and as
they are the sole producer, want to engage in Monopolistic Pricing thanks to
the benevolence of the Sirisena Presidency aided and abetted and bribed by his
close aides who are pushing this agenda for personal gain, unbeknown to HE.
4
The
other being the questionable company that is going to sell this unwanted vessel
to the Navy, as the company is blacklisted by the Western World for flouting
many international rules and practices. Here again the Maharajah Organization
is implicated in being the recipient of the biggest bribe in history by overpricing this unwanted and
useless vessel thereby costing the Sri Lankan public money they just cannot
afford.
It is clear from
the foregoing that this game of Russian Roulette, is simply above the heads of
our own politicians and state capability to handle as equals, with another case
of the mouse being stamped on by the Russian Bear to prove a point.
Ironically, we
are so DUMB, we have yet to work out the true reason for the Russian anger, as
we just don’t speak the same language, figuratively speaking, and don’t understand
international diplomacy, where when the Russian Bear is being insulted in the
US Congress, they take it out on the innocent small countries, which they take
particular joy in bullying and we take pleasure in that suffering! Masochists
of Sri Lanka
All in all to
come out on top, we must take the upper hand, call in all our tea exporters,
tell them to make representations THROUGH their customers, that the Russian
Public will suffer in the harsh winter, because ONLY Ceylon Tea can be drunk
hot, leafy varieties that ONLY Sri Lanka can produce and the Russian people
will curse PUTIN so there in ‘putin a bullet into his footin!’
You can be sure
that in a whisker the ban will be removed. It is simply that Putin does not
understand the winds of change that mean he is simply going to anger his own
people more than the silly Sri Lankan when there is NO CEYLON blended tea in the
shelves this winter, and the remaining stocks are sold at premium prices
because of the ban, enriching a few traders who are holding some Sri Lankan Tea
stock enough to satisfy the demand for the next 4 months, but with this news
the PUBLICITY and the SCARCITY Value is GOOD FOR BUSINESS where they have been
able to jack up the prices.
If you the
reader is following the gist of this story, you will realize that there is much
more in this action and while it is meant to teach Sri Lanka a lesson, when bad
intentions are made public, the person with the bad intention, in this case,
the Russian Government, will suffer more than the intended target, namely the
Sri Lankan Government.
It is better for
the Russians to cut their losses and remove the ban forthwith, which I believe
they will do immediately as they suddenly realize their mistake. If they don’t it
is simply because they realize we are stupid in not playing our TRUMP CARD, and
let us suffer a little longer for our ignorance.
So pass this issue
to the Tea Industry, the Exporters and their customers to resolve with the
Russian Government without wasting the traveling costs of the Minister of
Plantation Industries who does NOT understand the nuances referred to here.
They just need to hear loud and clear we don’t want RUSSIAN CHRISOTILE, WE DON’T
WANT RUSSIAN SHIPS, and we can reciprocate and stop the export of tea direct to
Russia sending it via Ukraine and the STANS!
