Putin screws Shell

Discussion in 'Wall St. News' started by Pekelo, Dec 12, 2006.

  1. Pekelo

    Pekelo

    This is pure maffia over there:

    http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20917734-36375,00.html

    "The months of pressure on Royal Dutch Shell over alleged environmental violations by its Sakhalin-2 development were widely suspected to be a cover for an attempt to secure Gazprom a substantial stake in the project.

    And now Shell has offered to cede control over the $US22 billion ($28 billion) venture to the state-controlled gas giant."
     
  2. As an East European... who has spent a lot of time over there...
    It greatly amuses me how Foreigners move into the exciting Wild East...
    And actually think that they are going to make money...
    And take wealth OUT of Eastern Europe.

    How naive. It has never happened even once.

    The East Euros view Foreigners purely as marks to be artfully scammed...
    And it would be considered Unpatriotic and a Disgrace...
    For anyone at any level... from the bazaar beggar to Putin...
    To even think for one second about actually allowing...
    A Foreigner to profit from the Fatherland.
    In EE culture... its the ultimate sacriledge.

    So if you MUST do business in EE...
    Do it for the adventure and the hottest babes on the planet...
    Forget about taking out any profits.
     
  3. I agree with you for the most part, my wife is from EE, and my American friend, I am American too, day trades from Ukraine. His American friend runs a software company and makes bank there as do many other foreigners do running software companies. It's simple a highly educated population, working for less money than an American software developers, and then re-sell the product back in US for USD$. I know it's not quite that simple, but I am sure you get the picture.
     
  4. Pekelo

    Pekelo

    Quote from HoundDogOne:

    As an East European...

    You are not the only one... :)

    It greatly amuses me how Foreigners move into the exciting Wild East...
    And take wealth OUT of Eastern Europe.


    Well Royal Dutch Shell has a 100 years long presence in Russia, so you tell me, would they have stayed this long if they hadn't been able to get wealth out of there?

    Hell, in the October revolution the Baku oilfields were burnt down and foreigner oilmen killed, nevertheless the company stayed...

    Read The Prize, Chapter 6: The Oil wars:The rise of Royal Dutch, the fall of imperial Russia :)
     
  5. Grant

    Grant

    This isn't "maffia"; it's laissez-faire capitalism.

    The exploiters becoming the exploited; beaten at their own game by ex-communists. How unfair, how ironic.

    Grant.
     
  6. newbunch

    newbunch

    Laissez faire means the government stays out of it. This is exactly the opposite. Economic totalitarianism.
     


  7. So what's new. Everyone in the world has suddenly realized that there isn't enough oil to last the next 50 years. So why the heck should Russians give away this finite resource? What the russians are doing is pure capitalism. Don't settle for 2 billion in taxes when you can make 20 Billion from oil sales. I don't fault the Russians, they're doing what any good capitalist would do. In fact anyone who states otherwise is a commie or a socialist.
     
  8. toc

    toc

    'I don't fault the Russians, they're doing what any good capitalist would do.'

    Infact oil/gas are the commodities that brought Russia back from the brink of bankruptcy, so they will hold on to their energy assets with fervor and fanatical determination.
     
  9. Grant

    Grant

    Newbunch,

    A bit difficult when the government is a major beneficiary /stake-holder.

    And why shouldn't a government provide clout to support domestic interests?

    Non-intervention? In which country would I find this?

    Grant.
     
  10. newbunch

    newbunch

    There probably are no countries like that. So yes, there are no laissez faire countries with oil. But don't go saying this is laissez faire capitalism when you admit the government is deeply involved.
     
    #10     Dec 12, 2006