Russia and economic war by the west #2

JohninMK wrote:
The European Union's border agency Frontex issued updated numbers Thursday on how many Russians it had tracked entering EU borders during the six months since the invasion of Ukraine began. It said nearly 1 million Russian citizens entered the EU since that time, or more precisely a total of 998,085 Russian passport holders had entered since Feb. 24.

owais.usmani wrote:

https://twitter.com/MissJacque_line/status/1563647448576192512

PapaDragon wrote:
Trick is to find the price sweet spot in catalogue, like when you buy PC parts

Cull the herd and blame Putin, it is not much more complicated than that. And it is working

Good to see Western companies coming back

I mean it Laughing

Russia in contrast to moralizing Europe is not ego-driven enough to refuse foreign capital, tax revenues and jobs.
Nor can Russia afford to do. Europe can't afford to so either, just as it can't afford to stop buying coal, gas, oil and other material from their cheapest source. But they pretend otherwise, and the result is evident, that Europe is suffering from self-inflicted economic wounds, while Russia with its pragmatic policy and long-term decisions is doing better.

Ikea is a perfect mirror of the Euro values.

Wall Street isn't qualified to predict if the Sun will rise the next day, let alone anything related to geopolitics.

kvs wrote:A few years ago I saw some economics article that was harping on the fact that the fraction of energy in the US and EU GDP was much smaller than
several decades before.   This was supposedly proof that it was no longer important.    This "thinking" highlights how feeble minded much of western
economics analysis truly is.   The "value" of an economics input cannot be based on its nominal amount if huge chunks of other economic activity
pivots on it.   Energy is the basis of everything in the economy.   No fuel, no food at your grocery store or even crop harvesting.   No cheap gas
and electricity, then no industrial activity viable any more.   All of the sudden the "low value" energy input controls every "high value" sector.  

Russia's "2%" of global GDP was exactly this sort of inanity.   Now that Russia has been cut off from precious "high value" western markets, we
are seeing 10-20% inflation rates, getting worse with time.    The western blowhards whose "thinking" is corrupted with self-serving delusion, are
going to see how "small" Russia's GDP is.    At the end of the day, physical inputs and the laws of physics are paramount.   No economics voodoo
and money printing will create reality and trump physics.    Without cheap energy and critical resource inputs, the mighty west is nothing more than
a fart bubble.

The President of Turkmenistan will take part in the SCO summit in Samarkand
BUSINESS TURKMENISTAN
13:31, 26.08.2022

President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov will take part in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which will be held in the capital of Uzbekistan, Samarkand, on September 15-16. This was reported by the Uzbek news site "nuz.uz" with reference to the SCO national coordinator from Uzbekistan Rakhmatulla Nurimbetov during a briefing on August 26.

In addition to the eight SCO member states, the leaders of three observer countries (Belarus, Iran and Mongolia) are expected to attend the summit.

“We are expecting guest leaders of those countries with which the presiding side maintains close contacts. Among them are the presidents of Turkey, Turkmenistan, and we are also expecting a number of guests who are being coordinated,” Nurimbetov said.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization founded in Shanghai in June 2001. The member states of the SCO are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. The main goals of the SCO are to strengthen relations between member states, develop cooperation in the political, economic and trade, scientific, technical, cultural and educational fields, as well as in the field of energy, transport, tourism and environmental protection, ensure peace, security and stability in region, the creation of a democratic, just international political and economic order.

Turkmenistan is interested in accelerating the construction of the TAPI pipeline
BUSINESS TURKMENISTAN
11:41, 23.08.2022

Turkmenistan wants to speed up work on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project. This was reported by the DAWN newspaper on Tuesday, citing the statement of the Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Pakistan, Atajan Movlamov, during his visit to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Lahore (CCI).

Along with the Ambassador of Turkmenistan, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Lahore was also visited by the Ambassadors of Nepal and Azerbaijan.

"Our country attaches great importance to improving relations with Pakistan and wants to speed up work on the TAPI gas pipeline project," Movlamov said.

Noting that a logistics center for transit trade has been established in Turkmenistan, the Turkmen ambassador stressed the importance of gaining access to the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in Pakistan.

The TAPI gas pipeline is expected to transport 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually along a 1,800 km route from Galkynysh, the world's second largest gas field, to the city of Fazilka, located near India's border with Pakistan.

Foreign Minister Meredov: Turkmenistan will join the North-South corridor
BUSINESS TURKMENISTAN
13:15, 20.08.2022

Turkmenistan will join the North-South transport corridor created by Russia, Iran and India, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov said at a press briefing on Friday. This is reported by the Russian news agency "TASS".

"This is a well-defined legal route for the movement of cargo flows in large volumes. The agreement on the international North-South transport corridor was signed back in 1998 and entered into force in 2000. The founders of this corridor are Russia, Iran, India. Today, Turkmenistan has begun to the procedures for joining this agreement," Meredov said.

The press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan was devoted to the results of the International Conference at the level of ministers of transport of landlocked developing countries, held on August 15-16 in the Avaza National Tourist Zone on the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea.

Meredov said that Turkmenistan "will continue to partner with Russian colleagues in the field of joint work in rail, road, air, sea and other modes of transport."

In early July, RZD Logistics, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, began transporting container trains from Russia to India along the eastern branch of the North-South land corridor using the transport infrastructure of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and India.

It is expected to launch a car ferry service between the ports of Turkmenbashi and Astrakhan
BUSINESS TURKMENISTAN
14:55, 25.08.2022

A delegation of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan on Wednesday in the Astrakhan region of Russia discussed the launch of a car ferry service from the port of Turkmenbashi to the region and the creation of a logistics center of Turkmenistan in the coastal region of Russia. This is reported by the information channel "GTRK Lotos".

According to the report, the annual foreign trade turnover between the Astrakhan region and Turkmenistan today is about 200 million US dollars. The parties have great potential for cooperation, including in the field of cargo transit. Cooperation in the field of railway, road and air communications is actively developing. The accession of Turkmenistan to the North-South transport corridor and the organization of a car ferry line between the ports of Olya and Turkmenbashi will increase the cargo turnover of all the Caspian states.

“There are no such professional warehouses on the territory of the Caspian coast of the Russian Federation. This is the first experience where we will work seriously and systematically with our neighboring countries. And we very much look forward to this interaction with the Turkmen side,” said Sergey Milushkin, General Director of Lotos Special Economic Zone JSC.

Seyitguly Baiseidov, General Director of the Balkan plant, said: “Our business representatives will also be interested in learning about the details, especially what are the conditions in the legislative and economic sense. It is interesting to learn about the terms of the contract and investment. They have to study it all in detail."

Turkmenistan will join the North-South transport corridor created by Russia, Iran and India, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov said at a press briefing last week.

The President of Turkmenistan, without mentioning the war, congratulated Zelensky on the Independence Day of Ukraine
August 26, 2022

On August 24, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov congratulated President Vladimir Zelensky on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine. In his congratulatory message to the leader of the country, which has been resisting Russia's unprovoked military aggression for six months, the Turkmen leader never mentioned war and peace.

Ukraine celebrated the 31st anniversary of its independence from the former Soviet Union on August 24 under Russian missile attacks.

"Taking this pleasant opportunity, the President of Turkmenistan addressed President Volodymyr Zelensky with wishes of good health, happiness, and the people of Ukraine - stability and prosperity," the State News Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH) reported.

On February 24 of this year, Russia sent its troops into Ukraine for no reason. At a vote in the UN General Assembly on March 3, 141 countries around the world condemned Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. Turkmenistan did not take part in this voting.

Turkmenistan has not condemned Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine.

Observers say that the fact that the Turkmen president, in his message to the leader of Ukraine, who is celebrating Independence Day under Russian missile strikes, did not wish for an early peace makes this congratulation inappropriate.

Turkmen writer Khudaiberdy Halli, who lives in Prague, in an interview with Radio Azatlyk on August 25, called it “regrettable” that the President of Turkmenistan did not consider it necessary to express sympathy for the Ukrainian people, condolences to the relatives of Ukrainians killed in the war, to mention war and peace.

“The fact that the President of Turkmenistan, in his message on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine, did not wish the Ukrainian people and the President of Ukraine to establish peace, at the same time did not wish the war to end as soon as possible, is very regrettable,” the writer says.

On April 7, the UN General Assembly, which recognized the neutrality status of Turkmenistan, held a vote on the exclusion of Russia from the Human Rights Council. This proposal was supported by 93 countries. Turkmenistan did not take part in the voting this time either.

Before that, on March 27, 2014, at the UN General Assembly voting, 100 countries of the world voted against the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia and supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine. And then Turkmenistan did not take part in the voting.

August 24 also marks exactly six months since the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine. In an unprovoked and brutal war, more than 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers died, millions of Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes, and civilians suffer from hostilities.

During these six months, Turkmenistan has not issued a single statement regarding the war in Ukraine, including not commenting on the fate of Turkmen students who found themselves in the war zone in Ukraine, just as it has not condemned the attack against the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan announced in April that it would send humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but whether the aid was sent to the regions controlled by Russia or the regions remaining under Ukrainian control is still unknown.

“Wishes for peace are words that are characteristic of every person, moreover, a person of the rank of president. At the same time, he must be against the war. Wars have never brought good to any people. Therefore, as the leader of one nation, he had to speak openly about it. We expected that he would be able to say this, but this did not happen,” writer Khudaiberdy Halli says in an interview with Azatlyk.

Experts on Central Asia note that Turkmenistan, referring to its status of neutrality, very often avoids expressing its position on important issues of world politics. The Turkmen writer believes that the very policy of neutrality is based on the desire for peace, and it is on this basis that any war must be condemned.

“Some politicians may argue that Turkmenistan supposedly adheres to a policy of neutrality. Turkmen representatives to the UN, under the pretext of neutrality, often