Russians encouraged to buy Greek products

A Russian agency has launched a nationwide "Help Greece" campaign, encouraging Russians to buy Greek produce, holiday in Greece and even snap up houses at low prices, in an effort to help the beleaguered Greek economy.

The Russian Federal Agency for international humanitarian cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) launched the "Help Greece" campaign on March 23. RT reported Rossotrudnichestvo's Deputy Head, Georgy Muradov, said "We call on our people to show solidarity with the Greek people and to buy more Greek products. We have calculated that if each Russian spends during a year 3-4 thousand roubles (Ђ100) on Greek goods it will give the Greek economy €15-€18 billion."According to Itar-Tass a telephone poll revealed 67 percent of Russians are ready to support the campaign which Muradov promoted by saying “Greece is a country which is close to us historically in civilizationally and we have to assist the brotherly Greek people in hard times of economic, social, and political crisis. We hope our society will back the action.” Leonid Kalashnikov of the Communist Party urged support for the initiative, saying “The Communists should support the action." Meanwhile Vladimir Solodukhin of Brokercreditservice financial corporation said that although 15-18 billion would not have much impact on the Greek economy "it is likely to produce emotional support as many people (in Greece) are in the doldrums.” Greece offers many wonderful exports to tempt the Russian palate including the finest olive oil, world famous olives, wine, Metaxa, cheese, honey,