Six years ago, the US and the European Union (EU) slammed the door on bank loans for Russian starving companies. The harsh measures were aimed at punishing Russia for military intervention in Ukraine and Syria and for interfering in the 2016 US election in aid of Donald Trump.

It is paradoxical, however, that these sanctions against Moscow and the policies Russia has taken in response have prepared the Kremlin for what it came to this month: a universal dislocation of the global economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic and a price war in the oil markets that led to a collapse in the oil market.

Russia is entering a crisis with swollen financial reserves, and its large companies are almost debt-free. After Russia was hit by sanctions, President Vladimir Putin’s government adjusted to isolation and was forced to prepare for economic shocks like the one that is hitting the global economy right now.

“Russia will be a little better than other countries because of its experience, its sanctions, and its reserves”, said Vladimir V. Tikhomirov, chief economist at BCS Global Markets, noting the 600 billion USD in gold and currency reserves available to Russia has been accumulated.

At the same time, Russia has taken a heavy blow from the collapse in oil prices, with the ruble losing about 20% of its value in recent weeks. Oil and natural gas account for about 60% of Russia’s exports.

It is too early to predict how the virus will spread and how different governments will respond. Given the state of the Russian economy and its poorly funded health system, the virus could have catastrophic consequences. With the country’s close grip on news media, many Russians suspect that the Kremlin could hide the scale of the problem or the degree of preparedness, hampering any effective response.

However, some countries, including Russia, appear to be better positioned than others. For Moscow, this situation is linked to Western sanctions.

Take, for example, the 2014 sanctions that limit loans from Western financial institutions to a maximum of three months. Russian companies responded by paying off their debt so Russia’s total government and corporate external debt fell to 455 billion USD earlier this year from 713 billion USD in 2014. In contrast, Western companies took advantage of the low interest to raise trillions of dollars of debt over the last decade.

The Russian government on Thursday announced its plan to curb the virus and maintain economic activity. It states that all patients with pneumonia will already be tested and that the country produces 100,000 tests a day.

The plan revises hospital rules so companies pay an advance when an employee is forced to terminate an illness. He will use the country’s sovereign wealth fund to pay out bonuses to healthcare workers.

Russia has 55,000 hospital beds for the treatment of coronavirus patients and 40,000 ventilators critical for the treatment of the most severely ill patients, the statement said. By today, Russia had reported 306 cases of COVID-19.

For years, economists have criticized Russian economic policy as being too conservative, emphasizing cost savings. It seems to reflect Russia’s belief that as bad as things are today, they can always get worse in the future. This policy now seems justified, especially given that the country relies on the extraction of natural resources for most of its revenues.

“Russia is more prepared than ever in its history”, said Vladimir Osakovsky, chief economist for Russia at Bank of America, referring to the economic downturn since the spread of the virus.

Russia has built up these reserves throughout the period of sanctions, recording in its budget an artificially low estimate of the global oil price. Income tax at this level goes to the national coffers. The country’s gross domestic product grew by just 1.3% last year but has put Russia in a solid position as the world clashes with the coronavirus.

The Russian agricultural sector has also benefited from changes introduced following sanctions on food imports.

Since 2014, the share of imported food on the Russian market has dropped to about 10% from about 25%.