I listened to a Kremlin watcher analyst. He said that Russia is a kleptocracy. Putin decides who gets the money. He bases that on whose loyalty he must buy. The statement put out by the company wasn’t anti invasion, it was an attempt to avoid sanctions and wasn’t critical of the Kremlin in any way. It said, “War is bad. Violence is bad.
We hope this is over soon.”
The idea that anyone would murder these men without clearance directly from Putin is absurd. (According to the analyst.) The probability is that Putin has decided that the money needs to be redistributed to newer and better allies.
It is rather like the top guy in the Mafia deciding to redistribute the pie to new capos.
And this russia is what putards think is superior to the west....spit...
I really thought the the USA could have done more to invest in Russia after the USSR fell, getting companies, universities, business schools, etc. to help them develop into a free-market system.
I was probably too naive - the mobsters were already active under the Soviets, and with the fall could come out in the open.
I met an oil guy from the USA that worked in Russia. He was with a major firm like Exxon or something. He said he would always offer a fair price, but wouldn’t bribe or anything to get the lease. I asked him how was he able to do any business then?
“The guys that offer the bribes are all mob. And lots of people don’t like to deal with the mob. They might get a bribe up front, but then they are stuck with all the other crap the mob will bring.”
He did say how he kept his head down and did things quietly. He met another guy from the USA and the main hotel where the Americans stayed in Moscow. The other guy was big into buying properties and was real loud, bragged a lot about how he was buying up all the property, etc. He told the guy to shut up and be quiet about it and just do business, but the guy didn’t listen.
The real estate guy was found dead in some park in Moscow.