Sanctions may be starting to bite on the Russia’s military production:
I was thinking we should allow Russian citizens to travel freely to Western democracies, so they can be exposed to the westernized news sources and see what’s going on in Ukraine from a different angle than what they are likely getting at home, and maybe take some of that home with them to share with their friends and neighbors.
An article summarising the effects of a month of sanctions:
<underlining mine>
I’d be interested if you could track down that cite. I find a couple of articles quoting the $1billion/day as total fossil fuel imports, but they don’t seems to suggest that this is anything out of the ordinary. This rate of spending is much higher than the averaged annual rate but that may be because it’s winter and so people in northern Europe are using more energy to heat their homes.
If we accept their press release (not saying we should)
Subway does not directly control these independent franchisees, nor their restaurants, and has limited insight into their day-to-day operations. The master franchisee in Russia manages all operations, marketing and the supply chain. Furthermore, Subway is committed to not make any direct investments
nor open any restaurants in Russia.
Finally, we will redirect any profits from operations in Russia to humanitarian efforts supporting theUkrainian refugees across Europe. We are also working with our franchisees across Europe to provide
meals to refugees.
So it might just be that the main subway company just rents them the name. If the franchise owners on the ground in Moscow keep buying their own meat and making sandwiches its not clear to me what the parent company can do to stop them.
I expect a lot of the EU purchases of Russian gas and oil are going into beefing up strategic reserves.
If at some point the taps are going to be switched off, how many days supply you have in storage is an important factor in how you handle the situation. The weather and demand is also important. As summer approaches, demand for gas for heating goes down. Conversely, a plan will be needed on how to handle the winter heating demand.
So far the EU has been able to cut coal imports, but oil and gas sanctions are much harder to achieve quickly. Sadly alternative suppliers are not capable of upping their output quickly to replace imports from Russia.
Timing is everything. Also, the situation could change dramatically in the next few months. No-one saw this coming and no-one knows how it is going to end.
It will be hugely significant if gas and oil supplies from Russia are sanctioned. It will damage the economies of both side dramatically and also the global economy. How big a jolt? Maybe as bad as the 1970s Oil crisis? That will be very much in mind as new strategies are hastily developed.
I agree with posters who say poutine won’t likely “pull out” of Ukraine due to sanctions but they will cost the “evil empire” and hurt supporters and that’s a good thing, IMHO. Loved the videos I saw of entitled rich Russian women taking scissors to their Louis Vuitton purses in “retaliation”.
Article on the ruble’s rebound, but economic speculation that sanctions are continuing to have a negative longer-term impact.
(The Moscow Times is an independent Russian news source, currently operating out of Amsterdam.)
Related issue; Ukraine economy taking a hit:
Ukraine economy to shrink by almost half this year, World Bank forecasts | World Bank | The Guardian
I’m surprised it is only half. So many of their cities have been wrecked I would have thought it would be more. The difference of course between Russia and Ukraine is Ukraine can expect help in rebuilding. Russia… not so much.
Only by going in hock to China. Russia is going to become the biggest client state in the world.
they might want to hold back on some of their potato crop so they have something to drink as they drown their sorrows in vodka.
This is an interesting chart - the black line shows the discount that Russia is having to put onto its oil due to tarifs.
I just saw in Politico that McDonald’s is going to completely pull out of Russia. According to the article (link below) “Now, McDonald’s says it is seeking a Russian buyer who will continue to pay its employees at least until a sale closes while it begins removing its iconic golden arches from stores across Russia.”
So Russians will have to head over to Burger King instead?
Some fast food franchises seem to be having difficulty extracting their brands from Russia.
I am wondering if the Golden Arches will come down or the branding will be retained with minor modifications……McDonald-ski?
I believe that McDonald’s has said it won’t ever be going back - so I’m not sure you’d even need to modify the branding. I can’t see a Russian court upholding a McDonald’s trademark/copyright infringement claim.
It would be cool if they rebranded as “McDowells”.
Since this has got bumped, I noticed that the Ruble is right now worth much more than it was prior to the current conflict. What’s going on?
At last it can be revealed…
The new name of the former McDonald’s chain in Russia is
Vkusno & Tochka (“Tasty and That’s It”)
No word yet on the fate of Mayor McCheese.