German company demands more than $ 12 billion from Gazprom The German company Uniper, which was previously the largest buyer of Russian gas, initiated arbitration proceedings against Gazprom Export at the International Arbitration Tribunal in Stockholm. The company is demanding compensation for losses caused due to the short supply of gas from June 2022, according to Reuters
I harken back to what I said last week (where I referred to the history of Russian female snipers). "They will be coming for the women next if they get into another mobilization." As I said, right now you have women starting to very vocally protest the mobilization of their sons but before long they will be mobilizing the sons but mamma too. Think about it. Mamma is, say, 42, and the son is, say, 20, and they are mobilizing up to age 60. Might have grampa out there too. Or working down at the factory. Oh, and let's not leave the kids out, eh. Russia to Ease Child-Labor Rules as War Squeezes Worker Supply https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ild-labor-rules-as-war-squeezes-worker-supply What a mess.
I thought Putin and his cronies said it would be the Europeans who were freezing this winter, not the Russians. Thread Reader - https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1599043912861106176.html
Russia said that the western sanctions were a present to Russia. Their economy is booming as never before. They made a small mistake. They confused booming with bombing. They go where Poland was in the 70's as a Russian satellite state. Big queues outside shops, waiting for hours before it was your turn and then hear "njema". And come back the next day hoping to be more lucky.
Cut off from the world's banking systems, Russia will try to make transfers in crypto. Bank of Russia to Test International Crypto Payments With Companies https://news.bitcoin.com/bank-of-russia-to-test-international-crypto-payments-with-companies/ The Central Bank of Russia plans to use cryptocurrency for cross-border payments in trials with private companies, a member of its top management has revealed. The testing will be conducted under a special legal regime that’s currently under development. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) intends to trial international trade settlements with cryptocurrencies, the monetary authority’s First Deputy Chairman Olga Skorobogatova announced on Monday. “We are now planning, within the framework of the experimental legal regime that we are preparing, to try the use of cryptocurrency for international settlements, that is, for foreign economic activity,” she said, quoted by the Tass news agency. Speaking at the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, Skorobogatova detailed that the pilot project will be carried out with interested companies. However, she did not specifically name the market participants that will join in. Government institutions in Moscow have been working to expand the regulatory framework for digital financial assets to cover decentralized cryptocurrencies. The central bank has been a strong opponent to their legalization in Russia but has softened its stance amid Western restrictions over the invasion of Ukraine, that have limited the country’s access to global finances and markets. In September, Deputy Minister of Finance Alexey Moiseev revealed that his department and the monetary policy regulator have agreed that, in the current conditions, it would be impossible for Russia to do without cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, the CBR maintains its position against allowing the free circulation of digital currencies like bitcoin under Russian jurisdiction, including domestic crypto payments. It recently backed legislation designed to regulate mining, provided the minted crypto is exchanged abroad or exclusively under special legal regimes inside Russia.
Russia's neighbors have some of the best performing currencies in 2022 as locals take their money and run. Russia’s War Turns Neighboring Currencies Into World’s Best https://finance.yahoo.com/news/putin-war-made-neighbors-currencies-050000355.html (Bloomberg) -- The Russian exodus triggered by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has put the currencies of former Soviet republics at the top of global rankings this year. Georgia and Armenia in the Caucasus mountains, as well as Tajikistan in Central Asia, are among the best performers against the US dollar after tens of thousands of Russian citizens settled there since February, bringing the equivalent of billions of dollars in savings with them. The small countries make appealing boltholes because no travel visas are required, Russian is widely spoken, and there are no restrictions on moving savings to local banks. That’s driven Armenia’s dram up 22% against the dollar since the start of the year, the top gainer among currencies worldwide, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Georgia’s lari and the Tajik somoni are stronger by more than 16% and 10%, respectively, beating the gains for Russia’s ruble, which is no longer a freely traded currency since emergency capital controls put a floor under its collapse. “It’s Russians, moving to these countries for a long time due to geopolitical issues, who keep their money in such currencies and push up the exchange rate,” said Natalia Milchakova at Freedom Holding Corp. More Russians Flee Than Join Putin’s Army After War Call-Up The war explains the fivefold increase in remittances entering Georgia from Russia so far this year, equivalent to more than 60% of all transfers and exceeding $1.75 billion, according to the National Bank of Georgia. Money transfers to Armenia amounted to $2.8 billion in the first ten months, a near-quadrupling compared with the same period of 2021. In October, they hit the highest level since at least 2004, the Armenian central bank said. At the same time, the currency impact from the waves of Russian arrivals is bigger in the smaller ex-republics. Kazakhstan, whose population of 19 million is around 6 times that of Armenia and Georgia, has also received Russian inflows — but the tenge is on track to end the year with a loss of more than 7% against the dollar. The economic gains weren’t a given at the start of the war, and Russia’s neighbors were expected to suffer as their biggest trading partner buckled under international sanctions. In reality, the enormous capital inflows have boosted their foreign exchange reserves and improved their current account balance. Armenia’s economy expanded in double digits in the second and third quarters, while Georgia’s economy posted almost 10% growth in the three months through September. For Tajikistan, money transfers surged at least 50% in the first half of the year, said Natalia Lavrova of BCS Financial Group, citing balance-of-payment data. That’s put the landlocked nation’s economy on track to expand 7% this year, compared with earlier predictions for 4-5%, she said. The International Monetary Fund raised Georgia’s full-year economic growth forecast to 10%, pointing to “a surge in immigration and financial inflows triggered by the war.” Meanwhile, Armenia’s central bank lifted its GDP growth forecast to 13% from 4.9% due to the influx of Russians, local media reported, citing Governor Martin Galstyan. “The sharp increase in remittances certainly explains such rapid growth,” BCS’s Lavrova said. In both Armenia and Georgia, the money transfers fed through into increased consumer demand and housing construction, she said.
BlackRock to help use seized Russian funds to re-build Ukraine. At least this is the way all of us know this will turn out. Zelenskyy, BlackRock CEO Fink agree to coordinate Ukraine investment https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/28/zel...k-agree-to-coordinate-ukraine-investment.html BlackRock Financial Markets Advisory and the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy signed a memorandum of understanding in November. Zelenskyy and Fink agreed Wednesday to “focus in the near term on coordinating the efforts of all potential investors and participants in the reconstruction of our country, channelling investment into the most relevant and impactful sectors of the Ukrainian economy.” (More at above url)