Russia and economic war by the west

Russia-Ukraine conflict will cause milk prices to soar – media, 20/03/2022.

Existing pandemic-related disruptions are being exacerbated as a result of the war.

Global prices for milk are reportedly facing a further dramatic growth due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, adding to the existing pressures from rising energy costs and disruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Supply chain disruption due to Covid has already caused the price of products vital to dairy production, such as whole milk powder and anhydrous milk fats, to skyrocket.

In January, producers in Australia, New Zealand (which alone controls about 35% of global milk exports), the EU, the US, and Argentina saw an output drop of 1.7% year-on-year, according to data from commodity broker StoneX, as quoted by the Financial Times.

New Zealand and the EU together account for around 70% of all milk exports, followed by the US, Australia, Brazil and Argentina. However, output has fallen steeply, with New Zealand and Australia posting declines of over 6%.

Anhydrous milk fat hit a record price of $7,111 per ton on March 15, while whole milk powder surged to an eight-year high this month.

“The conflict in Ukraine has added to an already complex Covid-19 operating environment, impacting global supply chains, the oil price, and the global supply of grains,” Miles Hurrell, chief executive at New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative Fonterra told the FT.

Russia, Ukraine, and China are leading exporters of both nitrogen-based fertilizers and wheat – a vital feed for cattle along with corn and soy. The issues in gas supply, worsened by the offensive in Ukraine, together with the pandemic restrictions imposed in China after another Covid outbreak, have made both difficult to acquire.

The combination of all those factors makes production “bloody expensive,” said Craig Hough, director of policy and strategy at Australian Dairy Farmers.

https://www.rt.com/business/552323-russia-ukraine-milk-prices-surge/

Uncle Vanya!

So 22 billion euro in France. This tells me that the total amount frozen is much smaller than 300 billion dollars equivalent.
Russia would have kept its offshore reserve fractions in a select number of countries.

Hole wrote:
Uncle Vanya!

This is funny but hopefully if they are going to take over McDonalds, KFC etc. it will not be a cheap knock-off like this but something new and properly done by marketing professionals.

I mean, not just the brand itself but also the products, ever if based on the original product/sauce.

I suppose locals like Black Start Burger could be somehow involved too.

They need to modify the menu to make it a bit healthier and more traditional too but keeping the vibe might keep the customers and then over time transition away from unhealthy food and become more and more Russian.

Here in New Zealand McDs tries to fit in with things like the Kiwi burger (which is not made from kiwis), but they still insist all their employees call the chips "fries".

Here in New Zealand if you are getting chips then that means hot chips from a fish and chip shop or burger bar.

They try to assimilate but not really...

Russian airline companies have lost 78 aircraft seized by the west. Something to consider in the near future.

Here is something very important regarding Russia overall:



This means that China will probably double down, triple down, on economic cooperation with Russia. Possibly with India too.

Hole wrote:
Uncle Vanya!

McDonalds, but the whole restaurant is a steamroom so you sweat the calories you just ate.

I guess the next victim of anti-Russia cancel culture will be the letter Z of the alphabet.

Vietnam is like a quiet ally of Russia.

Sanctions will not stop Russian invasion but it will make country much more weak on longer run. Which means less international business connections, less researches and international science, higher risks doing any kind of business with Russia, less global brands in Russia and smaller middle class in society as well as bigger emigration from Russia on long run since people like digital nomads are hit hard with Russian isolation and already moving out.

Russia lost status as reliable energy provider in the west (not even USSSR managed to accomplish that lol), no one in Europe will count on it any more and decoupling already started few years ago but will now speed up.

And there is big chance we will have many more round of sanctions in next couple of months and if war does not stop I can imagine that US and EU will go even after third countries that choose to do business as usual buying russian product and services (like India).

We are already out of chartered waters and no one knows how much this will all cost Russia at the end.

A bully will not change its ways until it is smacked in the face.

Putin wants rubles for Russian gas, 23.03.2022.

Change will affect gas exports to 'unfriendly' countries.

Russia will now accept payment for natural gas exports to unfriendly countries in rubles only, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the government on Wednesday.

The Russian president gave the Central Bank and the government a week to determine the procedure for operations for buying rubles on the domestic market for importers.

Putin added that Russia will continue to supply gas in accordance with the volumes and pricing principles of the contracts. Only the currency of payment will change.

https://www.rt.com/business/552546-putin-wants-rubles-russian-gas/

Dollar is turning into a high risk asset, says Pepe Escobar. 23.03.2022.

International correspondent Pepe Escobar says that "the US dollar and the euro - and everything denominated in dollars and euros – are high-risk assets." He also claims that "the entire Global South is rapidly adapting to the new paradigm," closing foreign trade deals in their own local currencies, after the heavy sanctions imposed by the West against Russia.

Yandex Translate from Portuguese

https://www.brasil247.com/economia/dolar-esta-virando-ativo-de-alto-risco-diz-pepe-escobar

Anatoly Chubais has left his post in the Russian government and left the country too

He's just been spotted in Istanbul, but that's unlikely to be his final destination

Putin kept Chubais, one of the architects of the 90s shock-therapy and privatization, around as a sort of 'link' to Western governments. Well, he's not needed any more in that capacity or any other.
His proposed and adopted policies in the 90s were directly responsible for plunging millions into poverty and making a small clique ultra-rich, off the difference between internal prices for Russian raw materials and their prices on the world market.
Asshat

In the 2000s Putin kept a menagerie of pro-NATzO agents close to him. This included Illarionov, Kudrin, Greff, the clowns in the "human
rights panel". Over time they have been let go. Russia was totally compromised in 1999. It has taken until 2022 to restore enough
functionality and independence to properly fight for its rights.

Nabiullina has not been fired, but the CBR has been de facto nationalized.

The National Welfare Fund is now required to be invested in Russian state bonds/treasuries and shares of
state owned companies. This amounts to one trillion roubles in 2022. It should boost the Russian stock
market.

So now the CBR no longer follows the directives of monetarists. It obeys the interests of the Russian state.
We will see how this plays out. But the monetarists are now snookered. They have no room to maneuver.