What they’re trying to hide is their drawdowns on their reserves. With all of this “surplus” they are still upside down with the cost of invading Ukraine. They are basically a cash in cash out business at this point with no access to capital markets. Look for financial cracking domestically June-Julyish… And yes you are correct on the imports. Trade goes two ways. Right now Russia is basically a donor state of energy with little coming in return.
If they are able to sell the volume that will not be sold anymore to the Western world at the same price. And from what we hear already is that Russia has to give a 25-30$ discount to find buyers. So they don't sell at the high prices from now and second they will sell less as they cannot quickly replace the lost volume from the Western world. Making high tech themselves will be problematic too. Replace the lost military equipment will be problematic too. They depend on Western technology and deliveries. And these things will vanish soon. Add to that the cost $$$ to replace the lost military equipment. The fact that Russia will not release any data anymore confirms that they are in bad shape already.
They also show in excess of 300 billion of reserves on their books that are frozen and not available. Maybe with ten years of lawyering they will get it back but their needs are more immediate than that. They have made a couple bond payments by using smoke, mirrors, bondo, and duct tape but gig will come to an end. In the last payment they made, they recalled, reclaimed funds that had been distributed to regions and municipalities and used it for debt payment. Not pretty. And it goes without saying, that the regions and municipalities did not make out well in that transaction either. They have plenty of needs too these days. Plenty.
Russia is clear winner,because of high level of their education system,not just natural resources. Look where US is on that list It was not always like this,today it is and it surprise me the most all these dopey Eastern Europeans cheering America. They think is the US from last century,not anymore.
Statement from Putin today on TV: "Russia, meanwhile, is dealing with the sharpest drop in oil production since the collapse of the Soviet Union. “There are tectonic shifts in the oil market,” Putin said." The problems will only get bigger till production crashes.
Sure. All Russia needs to do is to build a big wall to keep everyone there and there will be no brain drain and everything will be groovy. Let's check in for just a minute to see how that is going: Mass flight of tech workers turns Russian IT into another casualty of war https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/01/russia-tech-exodus-ukraine-war/
Should have tossed their arse out long ago. But the WHO is part of the United Nations so they thought about it and- well- they specialize in just thinking about things. That should be the United Nations motto: "We think about things while people die" or maybe: "The United Nations: Rwanda R Us." World Health Organization Members Pass Resolution Against Russia https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...zation-members-pass-resolution-against-russia
(The Daily Upside) GLOBAL ECONOMY No More Pause: McDonalds and Renault Exit Russia for Real “Unusual and delicious.” That is how one woman described McDonald's food to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on the day the fast food franchise’s first Soviet location opened in Moscow in 1990. On Monday, McDonald’s “delicious” food departed Russia under unusual circumstances — the company announced plans to sell its Russian business and “de-arch” all franchises in the fallout of war. French automaker Renault announced it’s hitching its own ride out of the country. Old McDonald Sold a Farm Many multinational food and restaurant brands such as Starbucks, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and KFC, have paused operations in Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. Few have taken the radical step of leaving altogether. “Some might argue that providing access to food and continuing to employ tens of thousands of ordinary citizens is surely the right thing to do,” wrote McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski, in a frank letter to franchisees. “But it is impossible to ignore the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.” McDonald’s plans to remove its name, logo, brand, and menu from all of its Russian restaurants, sell the remaining operations to a local buyer, and keep its trademarks in the country to protect against infringement. Russian state news agency TASS said McDonald’s locations will open under a new name next month. It’s a far cry from three decades ago, when the Golden Arches entered the Soviet Union as a symbolic ambassador of Western capitalism, signaling the end of the Cold War. Now, the company leaves behind a significant, though not devastating, chunk of business: • McDonald’s owns 84% of its Russian stores, and restaurants in Russia and Ukraine accounted for 9% of its annual revenue last year, or roughly $2 billion. The two countries accounted for 3% of operating income. • McDonald’s expects to record a $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion non-cash charge to exit Russia. That may be more appealing than the $50 million a month, or 5 to 6 cents per share, in real cash that it’s been losing to maintain shuttered assets. Shift to Reverse: Renault was a more recent entrant into Russia than McDonald's, but its acquisition of iconic carmaker Lada in 2016 was further proof of how globalized economic relations had come since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Renault plans to sell its 68% stake in Lada parent AvtoVAZ to a Russian state entity for a single ruble, though the agreement includes buyback rights should Renault want to return. Considering that AvtoVAZ sold 350,000 vehicles, or 12% of Renault’s total last year, it just might. The Takeaway: Western banks, including UniCredit and Citigroup, are exploring swapping assets with Russian banks in their own bid to get out for good, according to the Financial Times. The hope for a ceasefire or end to the war in Ukraine seems dim, suggesting that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink was right when he said the conflict will mark the end of the last three decades of growing globalization.