cheap fish - bad soup
Hello!
Do you have similar English saying to this one, "cheap fish - bad soup"?

You might retort, “Why not resale Russian gas?” That is it, in Gazprom they are having wet dreams to let Kyiv guys profiteer with the Russian resource at the market of three countries, creating a competition for Gazprom.
Thirdly, in Kyiv they remember genetically, the way that Moscow marinated the representatives of criminal regime, which asked to lower the gas price in 2012-13. So, like they say “cheap fish – bad soup”, this Ukrainian saying applies to the very case. It is clear, that Gazprom don’t believe the locals which in reply are afraid, reasonably, simple bilk. As a result, this proposal will just add fuel to the fire and lead to a regular wave of national interests protection in Kyiv. It's foolish for anyone to think that they don’t understand it in Moscow. Why do they do it? Maybe you know?

Question

cheap fish - bad soup
Hello!
Do you have similar English saying to this one, "cheap fish - bad soup"?

You might retort, “Why not resale Russian gas?” That is it, in Gazprom they are having wet dreams to let Kyiv guys profiteer with the Russian resource at the market of three countries, creating a competition for Gazprom.
Thirdly, in Kyiv they remember genetically, the way that Moscow marinated the representatives of criminal regime, which asked to lower the gas price in 2012-13. So, like they say “cheap fish – bad soup”, this Ukrainian saying applies to the very case. It is clear, that Gazprom don’t believe the locals which in reply are afraid, reasonably, simple bilk. As a result, this proposal will just add fuel to the fire and lead to a regular wave of national interests protection in Kyiv. It's foolish for anyone to think that they don’t understand it in Moscow. Why do they do it? Maybe you know?

Answer

"Garbage In - Garbage Out"
or "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

But - in context,  I'd leave "cheap fish - bad soup."  I can easily understand what the saying means and it's called a Ukranian saying.
-------
a couple of  other comments -

* "Why not resell Russian gas?"
* in US English "wet dreams" is kind of vulgar.  I would not expect to see it in a serious newspaper or on the evening news. It's not a  phrase that you would say in front of children or when your mother is in the room.  It is fine for a blog post. I would also change that from "dreams to let" to "dreams about letting"
* "remember genetically," sounds odd
* I'm also not sure what you mean by "marinated" in this sentence.
* "Thirdly, Kyiv remembers the way that Moscow _______________ the representatives of the criminal regime that asked to lower the gas prices in 2012 and 2013."
* It is clear that Gazprom doesn't trust the locals who conversely are afraid, reasonably, of being bilked by Gazprom.

Answer

I don't know of any culinary expression, but one which more or less fits here is:

Garbage in, garbage out.

This means that if you make something with low quality components / people / ingredients etc. the resulting product will also be of low quality.

A similar expression, (though it doesn't fit the context here) is:

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Eg. a business which only offers low salaries to its employees will end up with an unmotivated and poor quality workforce.