For nearly a year we have seen the ET's resident vatniks claiming Russia had no economic problems because the rouble was "strong". Of course this was completely laughable. Let's see where things are today. Russian rouble falls to lowest value for a year https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65213412 The Russian rouble has fallen to its lowest value for a year, since shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. The currency slid to 82 roubles against the US dollar on Friday morning on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX). Russia has been hit with massive economic sanctions since it began an offensive in Ukraine in February 2022. Earlier this year, Russia said its economy had shrunk by 2.1% in 2022, far less than the 15% fall that had been predicted. The rouble also slid by 2% to 90.06 against the euro on Friday morning. Traders said the fall was linked to several factors, including lower oil prices in March cutting Russian revenue, and the sale of Western businesses in Russia in the wake of the invasion. The rouble's value has not slumped to this level since April 2022, though it was even lower in the immediate aftermath of the invasion, when it fell to 113 roubles per US dollar. The currency stabilised in July to reach 50 roubles - but it has weakened again since then. President Vladimir Putin had insisted the economy was standing strong against economic sanctions, but last week he admitted that the penalties could have a negative effect on Russia. Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the latest fall was linked to changes to imports and exports to the country. He added that the exchange rate fluctuated with "the conditions of changing foreign economic conditions". Asked if people in the country should be concerned, he said the rouble was likely to strengthen thanks to the continued sales of Russian energy on the global market. Late last year, Western countries imposed a price cap on Russian oil, a huge source of income for the country. It was one of many sanctions imposed by nations supporting Ukraine. But despite these punishments, the Russian economy has shrunk far less than predicted, and commentators have been surprised at its resilience. While energy imports to Europe fell sharply in 2022, buyers in China, India and elsewhere stepped in to fill the void. And when hundreds of Western companies withdrew from Russia in protest of the invasion, local entrepreneurs picked up the slack. Russia has said it is adapting its economy as a result of the sanctions, and that it hopes to have completed this process by 2024.
How low has the Russian airline industry sunk? So low that the only place to get its Airbus planes maintained is in Iran (which itself is sanctioned). Amid Sanctions, Aeroflot Forced to Send Aircraft to Iran for Repair https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023...ed-to-send-aircraft-to-iran-for-repair-a80778
It's actually much worse than it appears. Russia has had a labor shortage for years which it dealt with by using migrant labor from K-stan, Mongolia, various obscure countries. Russia made it easy for them to come and even made it easier for them to get Russian citizenship. Except most of them dast not return to Russia out of fear that they will be conscripted or mobilized whereas before they would migrate in and out seasonally or when there were jobs for them. Enticing people to work in Russia by giving them Russian citizenship is considered to be a punishment now, not a reward. Vlad will start piling in the Chinese laborers soon. And the rest is history.
The Russian economy is worse than it appears as well. Russia's economy continues to reel as energy revenue and the ruble weaken https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russ...reel-energy-211945356.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall Russia's oil and gas revenue tumbled by 45% in the first three months of 2023 amid sanctions. Meanwhile, the ruble is coming off its worst week against the dollar in a year. A recent paper said Russia's recession in 2022 was actually twice as bad as official data implied. (More at above url)
Interesting to see if they can collect. They probably can demand that the 5 Billion dollar judgement be paid from frozen Russian government assets. This also opens the door for other companies to hold Russia accountable for unlawfully expropriating their assets. Ukraine's Naftogaz says Russia told to pay $5 billion for seizing Crimea assets https://news.yahoo.com/ukraines-naftogaz-says-russia-told-084434102.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz said on Thursday that Moscow had been ordered by an arbitration court in The Hague to pay $5 billion in compensation for unlawfully expropriating its assets in Russian-annexed Crimea in 2014. Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov described Wednesday's ruling by The Hague's Arbitration Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration as a "key victory on the energy front" and said he expected more decisions in Ukraine's favour to come. "Despite Russia's attempts to obstruct justice, the Arbitration Tribunal ordered Russia to compensate Naftogaz for losses of $5 billion," Naftogaz said. "Russia must now comply with this decision in accordance with its obligations under international law," it said in a statement. Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, seized the peninsula of Crimea in 2014, drawing a wave of sanctions from Western governments. There was no immediate comment from Russia or Russia's Gazprom on the ruling. The court in The Hague did not immediately respond to a written request for comment. Naftogaz said if Russia refused to pay voluntarily it could initiate a "process of recognition and admission to enforce the award in the territory of those states where assets of the Russian Federation are located." The company, whose assets in Crimea included Chornomornaftogaz which produced significant amounts of gas from the Black Sea, gave no further detail of which overseas Russian assets it could target. Some high-profile Russian-owned international assets - such as superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs - have already been targeted by governments as part of sanctions following the Ukraine invasion. Naftogaz had initiated arbitration proceedings with six other companies within Naftogaz Group in October 2016, it said, noting the arbitration award was made after hearings to determine the amount of compensation, which ended in March 2022. Tim Ash, an analyst at BlueBay Asset Management, said the ruling was a "huge legal win for Ukraine, and I would think more (is) to come." Naftogaz has been in talks with investors on a debt restructuring to bring the company out of a months-long default.
Finance leaders of major democracies tell Zelensky that they will seize all the Russian assets and use every last dime of them to rebuild Ukraine. There will be no ruins in Ukraine, Russia's assets should be used for compensation – Zelenskyy https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/no-ruins-ukraine-russias-assets-195308412.html President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is convinced that despite the war, Ukraine will not turn into a ruin and Russia will compensate for the damage, including at the expense of its oligarchs and officials. Source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his nightly video address on 12 April Details: Zelenskyy has said that on Wednesday evening he took part in a "meeting of a special format of support for Ukraine – financial". This event takes place in Washington and brings together finance ministers from "strong democracies" – Ukraine's partners, the European Commission, and heads of international financial institutions such as the IMF, World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The topic of the meeting was primarily Ukraine's recovery from combat actions. Quote from Zelenskyy: "I thanked our partners for helping us to maintain Ukraine's sustainability and financial stability. And I called on them to be more active so that Ukraine can be more active in reconstruction and returning normal life to Ukrainians. There will be no ruins in Ukraine. This is our goal. And this will be very concrete proof of the complete defeat of the terrorist state. Moreover, the world knows the solution – in terms of Russia's assets, Russian officials, and oligarchs who grew rich while their state was becoming a terrorist... All of these assets should be used to compensate those who have suffered from Russia. Russian assets should be used to recover from the aggression. The war should be the most expensive for the aggressor. And we are doing everything for this. Thanks to our partners who support us."
The profits, however, will still largely flow to those finance leaders, i.e. western oligarchs, by way of "deals".
Russia's economy is worse than Moscow claims because military spending covers up how much the private sector is shrinking https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...h-the-private-sector-is-shrinking/ar-AA19OYvp
Well... they certainly will lock China out of the re-building. Zelenskyy wants Russia's frozen funds. All $600 Billion of it. Zelenskyy calls for confiscating Russian Central Bank funds https://news.yahoo.com/zelenskyy-calls-confiscating-russian-central-210028051.html