Down to donkeys and shovels now. lol
Zeep a little dream bobo
Well check April’s totals
Until, they’ll always have Kursk , right Bobo ?
To the last Ukie !
The Russian economy teeters on the edge of the abyss. Without a peace deal, they risk ruin in the short term.
The Moscow Times reports:
““A massive crisis is unfolding before our eyes,” said Yevgeny Kogan, an investment banker and professor at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow...
...The tariffs have caused prices for raw materials to fall, with Brent crude (oil) dropping 12% over the past two days...
...The consequences of a global trade war — including lower energy prices, an increase in import costs and renewed inflationary pressures — would acutely impact Russia, a country heavily reliant on commodity exports, said Yelena Kozhukhova, an analyst at Veles Capital in Moscow.
MOEX (The Moscow Stock Exchange Index) has shed 17% of its value since mid-February, and shares of major firms have fallen in double-digit percentages: Gazprom by 30%, Norilsk Nickel by 25% and Rosneft by 28%.
Russian Urals crude, the country’s key export blend, is now trading (far) below $60 per barrel (the redline for their Federal budget analysis). These prices signal problems with the state budget and a likely devaluation of the ruble devaluation in the coming months, Kogan said.
“Progress in the peace talks could save the situation, but that is yet to be seen,” he said.
A visit by Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, to Washington on Thursday did not appear to advance talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
“President Trump is not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations about negotiations,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday. “We will know soon enough — in a matter of weeks, not months — whether Russia is serious about peace or not.””
Crunch time for Russia on the business and finance front, where President Trump is the master.
From $75 on 2 April, Brent Crude Oil price has crashed to $63.40 a few minutes ago. Russian Urals was reported to be selling for $45 - below the breakeven cost for many (not most) Russian oil projects.
OilPrice.com reported on 27 March:
“Russia’s central bank issued a warning to the government that oil prices could enter a prolonged slump on the back of higher U.S. and non-OPEC production this year. The warning came earlier this year and was quite likely linked to the multiple forecasts anticipating just such a development...
...Reuters reported the news about the Central Bank of Russia earlier in the week, saying the warning was included in a presentation that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin had prepared for a cabinet discussion. “A significant risk is the oil price,” Reuters cited one slide from the presentation as saying “a significant increase in production in the United States and outside OPEC.”...
...As regards Russia specifically, it is in a delicate position because any talk of sanction lifting will pummel oil prices, which would be a disadvantage to Russian producers. The effect might be transitory, until the market calms down that Russia will not be flooding the world with oil, but for now, it seems that, quite ironically, sanctions are better for Russian oil prices—and U.S. oil prices, too.”
Unless of course, President Trump were to impose the secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil that he recently proposed - that would crash Russia’s remaining oil revenue more deeply and more suddenly than the drop that brought down the Soviet Union.