Russia inches closer to debt default as US lets key waiver expire US banks and individuals will be barred from accepting bond payments from Russia’s government after 12:01am NY time (04:01 GMT) on Wednesday https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2...-to-debt-default-as-us-lets-key-waiver-expire
"Sobyanin (Moscow Mayor, who now is in charge of the auto plant) said that they will need to get "foreign partners" because (doh!) you cannot create a domestic vehicle from zero by yourself." Like that wasn't obvious from the beginning. Where are they going to get "foreign partners" I wonder. For the Chinese it is a lot more profitable to sell the cars to the no-other-choice market rather than "partner".
Russia sees specter of scarcity looming: "Coming months will be difficult for businesses and citizens" The heavy economic sanctions imposed by the West after Russia's invasion of Ukraine are beginning to weigh on Russia. Although the Kremlin is doing everything it can to keep Russian companies and factories going and avoid a return to the great scarcity of the Soviet era, the economic toll is already being felt everywhere. For example, the chairman of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabioellina, warned that the coming months will be “difficult” “for both businesses and citizens”. Shortages - which are already there - will only increase. As a countermeasure, the Central Bank cut interest rates again yesterday. The Bank of Finland also confirmed that the economic outlook is not good in an analysis earlier this month. “By starting a brutal war in Ukraine, Russia has chosen to become much poorer and less influential economically,” it read. Basic goods Basic commodities such as paper are already harder to find and consumer goods prices are very high. It is also difficult in the industry. For example, airlines find it difficult to find parts for their aircraft, because they can no longer turn to European manufacturers. And the Russian energy sector is not doing well either. Sales are predicted to fall as Europe has made clear that it wants to get rid of Russian oil and gas. Inflation rose to 17.8 percent last month and has since declined only slightly. By comparison, the European Central Bank aims for a deficit of 2 percent in the medium term. It drives Russian companies to be creative. For example, the Russian car manufacturer Avtotor organized a lottery for its staff, with which pieces of land of 40,000 square meters (about five football fields in size) could be won. Employees can then grow their own food on it. (Not really a good sign for the average Russian who will have to grow his own food.) What could turn the tide? It's hard to say, but analysts say nothing less than sweeping changes in the Kremlin and the end of President Vladimir Putin's rule. Pensions The latter responded this week to the economic downturn by promising to raise the minimum wage, pensions and benefits for soldiers. He didn't necessarily label the massive departure of foreign companies from Russia as a bad thing. “Sometimes you look at who's leaving and you think, 'Maybe we should thank God that they're leaving'. Our own companies and producers have grown and will successfully take their place. Nothing will change," he claimed on TV yesterday. (unbelievable that Russians believe all this nonsense, while at the same time there is food shortage, people lose their jobs, and factories have to close. A lot of Russians are really idiots, or always to drunk to think) Putin also lashed out at the West for freezing Russian assets such as bank accounts and yachts linked to people close to him. Stealing other people's belongings never ends well, according to state news agency Interfax. “First of all, for those who do such a bad thing.” (if Vladimir is right, for a lot of Russian that would be a disaster as God will send them to hell. Hilarious, knowing that the biggest criminals and looters are Russians.) He also admitted that European luxury goods such as Mercedes-Benz cars would become "a little more expensive", but dismissed it as "an insignificant inconvenience". (the average Russian can have in best case a picture from a Mercedes, only the corrupt politicians and oligarchs can afford such a car) Nearly a thousand western companies have already left Russia, including McDonalds, Starbucks and Nike. Others have (temporarily) stopped their activities, such as Adobe. There are even fears that Russia will soon run out of data storage space. Local companies, on the other hand, are in trouble because the import of raw materials and basic materials is hindered by European sanctions. Either they don't get through, or they are a lot more expensive. Furthermore, Europe also blocks the import of a lot of finished products, from cars to sanitary towels. Parcel companies such as DHL have already indicated that they no longer want to deliver to Russia.
Record only because India & China didn't buy much in the past .... but with a yuuuge discount WTF not.
Russian business source Коммерсантъ reports that Huawei has "quietly" stopped selling equipment to Russia and is not responding to any business requests - without any formal announcements. Ericsson and Nokia have already formally stopped business with Russia. The vast majority of telecom equipment in Russia comes from these three sources. Коммерсантъ says that unless some solution is found, services outages are expected already by mid-summer.
Russian processor-design company "Elbrus" announced that due to impossibility of producing their processors abroad, they are moving production to Russian domestic "Micron". The result will be 90nm and 130nm processors (Elbrus was designed for 28nm and less). The move to "Micron" is planned to take 1-1.5 years and cost $100M+. #winning
Linde Engineering is withdrawing from all projects in Russia. It was going to supply Russian Novatek with the equipment for its Arctic LNG projects, and for the gas processing complex in Ust-Luga.