More Bad News for Russia

[fathertime]

Yes, you are understanding me, as your short example shows.

i.e.  It would serve no purpose to look at the $87 in Russia . . . and then think of living in USA on it.

Perhaps possible to live on it in Russia, but not in USA.

So even by referencing dollars in both countries, nothing meaningful can be ascertained.

Yes, my point was never to attempt to ascertain what 87 dollars a month was worth here in the USA...it isn't even enough to rent an outhouse....but the point I was making is a rather normal guy getting 2500 on SS and living in Russia must have a lot of options due to his money compared to the wages many workers get in Russia.   If indeed people can live on 87 dollars a month in Russia or even for argument's sake 200 a month...than 2500 I am guessing would enable a person to afford quite a few luxuries...


Fathertime!

[fathertime]

Still..
It is Missiles 101 then Missiles 102

http://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/irans-ballistic-missile-program

Thanks for the link, I believe the earlier point still stands...many of the nations around Iran do have ballistic missiles...Iran also does, and should.


Fathertime!   

[alex330]

The income and cost of living in the FSU has always perplexed me. To say that a Westerner can live well and has options with $2500 a month is a bit misleading from what I am told. The cost of luxuries is higher over there than in the West. A health club may run $100 per month versus $28 here, or a car is 30% more, or imported clothing is x times more.

Yes, some people make $80 or $200 a month, we know people who make that much per month. But I also know that my wife's girlfriends are married to men who make 4-6k per month and are considered "average" wage earners. They just have to hussle to earn that type of income. Work on a boat for 3-6 months at a time, or work as a truck driver leaving the country for short stints then to return home. Or side jobs under the table, etc

Would be interesting to hear the experiences of those that live there currently....

[fathertime]

The income and cost of living in the FSU has always perplexed me. To say that a Westerner can live well and has options with $2500 a month is a bit misleading from what I am told. The cost of luxuries is higher over there than in the West. A health club may run $100 per month versus $28 here, or a car is 30% more, or imported clothing is x times more.

Yes, some people make $80 or $200 a month, we know people who make that much per month. But I also know that my wife's girlfriends are married to men who make 4-6k per month and are considered "average" wage earners. They just have to hussle to earn that type of income. Work on a boat for 3-6 months at a time, or work as a truck driver leaving the country for short stints then to return home. Or side jobs under the table, etc

Would be interesting to hear the experiences of those that live there currently....

It would be interesting to hear....from what I've ascertained from friends living in Colombia (where the minimum wage is 200 or so), 3,000USD will afford a man a very good lifestyle...assuming he doesn't go too overboard. Being that Russia's minimum wage is currently less than 1/2 of that, it makes some sense that the situation is similar....but maybe not...so the question is out there.




Fathertime!

[alex330]

The US is forging ahead with LNG exports.

"including the monster, mile-deep Marcellus basin, which alone produces 113 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year, the same as Russia's exports to Europe through three pipelines"

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Undeterred-By-Global-Glut-US-Pushes-Ahead-On-LNG-Exports.html

And the alternative energy tax incentives in the US extended another five years...

"The extension will add an extra 20 gigawatts of solar power—more than every panel ever installed in the U.S. prior to 2015"

http://richarddawkins.net/2015/12/what-just-happened-in-solar-is-a-bigger-deal-than-oil-exports/

[tfcrew]

  Iran also does [have ballistic missiles], and should.

 

I believe that Iran is hostile to the United States and our ally Israel.
Because of such, I wouldn't care if the Iranians were armed with no more than slingshots.

Why are you so interested in their having any advanced weaponry?

[JayH]

I truly hope you are kidding.   If not, your picker is broken!     

You only need to see his historic posts to see he is not kidding. Ukrainian lady handed his arse to him on a plate! Of course-- maybe if he actually looked at himself he would see why anyone would be unhappy meeting him !! ( "Unhappy women are the only kind I've ever met"--- his words btw)

[fathertime]

I believe that Iran is hostile to the United States and our ally Israel.
Because of such, I wouldn't care if the Iranians were armed with no more than slingshots.

Why are you so interested in their having any advanced weaponry?

...because I believe the situation is solvable.  in addition, I believe we have on the wrong side of things most of the way through our interference in Iran's internal affairs.  Generally I like when nations can defend themselves, and bully nations are unable to proceed as easily. In this case Iran has been able to strike a fair deal to halt most if not all aspects of their nuclear program that we are concerned with.  They have shown they have some negotiating power.


Fathertime!   

[JayH]

. Thought a little about a pretty high-end apartment in Crimea, but my wife is skeptical (she’s Crimean). Says it’s too criminal and too different (to live grand) to the big masses living in poverty (unless you’re a criminal).

That her relatives experienced their property just being stolen in Moscow, just add to the feeling of it being too high risk of being invested in Russia. Even though I’m a fan of Russia, I’m still aware of the three big problems there; crime, corruption and beaucrocracy.

 where the political situation is stable? Any ideas?

Anyone else laughing at this guy as hard as I am?
Everything  I ever called you-- was all accurate!

Here is some pro-Rus promoter excuse maker recognising the fact of the Russian kleptocracy  and still says he ädmires it!

I would say go live in it--you deserve it.
BTW-- show me how you could afford a "high end"Crimean apartment  !!

[AkMike]

Social Well-being Indexes of Russians Fall Because of Economic Crisis
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/social-well-being-indexes-of-russians-fall-because-of-economic-crisis--poll/553669.html

Apartment Prices in Moscow Down 15 Percent in 2015
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/apartment-prices-in-moscow-down-15-percent-in-2015/553668.html

FSB Allowed to Shoot at Crowds to Prevent Terrorism Acts — Duma
The amendments also allow FSB officers to shoot at women, children and disabled people in cases of a terror act or armed attack on civilians and law enforcers.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/fsb-allowed-to-shoot-at-crowds-to-prevent-terrorism-acts--duma/553605.html

U.S. Energy Producer ConocoPhillips Quits Russia After 25 Years
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/business/article/us-energy-producer-conocophillips-quits-russia-after-25-years/553588.html

Brent Oil Prices Dip to Lowest in 11 Years
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/business/article/brent-oil-prices-dip-to-lowest-in-11-years/553439.html

Russia Lays Off One In Every 10 Civil Servants in 2016 
http://europe.newsweek.com/xxx-medvedev-job-cuts-408174?rm=eu

And this is after the mass layoffs in 2015! 

Hopefully it'll include the Ukrainian invaders also! Huilomeisters rep is slipping on the home front.

[Noch1]

Ade, apparently this is really common in Russia and she doesn't traumatize the boy,
I don't need or want your advice. Some day you might come here without dispensing
an unwanted know it all post. 

Udachi!

Bill

Bill you been drinking? you really think he might post something useful ?

[ML]

BTW-- show me how you could afford a "high end"Crimean apartment  !!

Hey . . . when did we institute a requirement for Balance Sheet disclosure ?

Must they be audited ?  By Big Four firm, I presume.

[AkMike]

Deutsche Bank Moscow Laundering Probe Tallies $10 Billion
The Moscow Times
Dec. 22 2015 17:15

German banking giant Deutsche Bank has found new suspicious transactions related to its operations in Russia worth $4 billion, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing several unidentified sources close to the results of the investigation.

Earlier this year, Deutsche Bank started a probe into $6 billion “mirror trades” involving its Russian clients. Therefore, the total of suspicious transactions identified by the bank reached $10 billion.

The so-called “mirror” transactions helped Russian clients move large amounts of money out of the country by buying securities in rubles through the Deutsche Bank in Moscow while the securities for the same amounts were bought by the bank in London in dollars and euros.

In July, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Britain's financial watchdog, and the New York State Department of Financial Services launched an investigation into Deutsche Bank for possible money laundering in Russia.

Close associates of President Vladimir Putin, including a relative and his longtime friends, billionaire Arkady Rotenberg and his brother Boris, could benefit from the “mirror” trades, Bloomberg reported in October. Rotenberg spokesman Andrei Baturin denied any involvement of the brothers in such transactions.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/deutsche-bank-moscow-laundering-probe-tallies-10-billion/553520.html

[AkMike]

Kyrgyz Leader Says Russia Can't Finance Two Big Power Projects


Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev said Russia would no longer be able to finance two previously agreed upon hydroelectric power projects in Kyrgyzstan.

Atambaev's announcement on December 24 highlighted the decline of Russia's economic power as a result of the collapse of oil prices and western economic sanctions. Its financial difficulties are prompting close allies and neighbors to turn to China and private investors for financing.

Atambaev said Kyrgyzstan would seek new partners for two power projects on the Naryn river and Upper Naryn Cascade. The projects are estimated to be worth over $3.2 billion.

"Russia's economy is not on the rise and the oil price trend is negative," he told a news briefing, adding that he had discussed the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow earlier this week.

"The reality is such that today, unfortunately, our Russian friends will not be able to implement these projects... And this is going to be the case for a long time."

Kremlin spokesman Dimtry Peskov confirmed that there are "difficulties" with financing but it was premature to say Russia was pulling out of the projects.
http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyz-leader-says-russia-cant-finance-two-big-power-projects/27448434.html

[AkMike]

"AvtoVAZ", largest Russian carmaker, has ceased to exist.
Experts assembled the last car in the company's history, a five-door LADA 4 × 4, on December 22.
The production personel not being paid for months refused to work.
Turkish subcontractors had stopped to supply AVtoVaz after the unpaid bills had reached an unbearable level.
The president of the company declared bankrupcy.
The ownership of the factory will be transfered to the mayoral council of Togliatti.

[Gator]

"AvtoVAZ", largest Russian carmaker, has ceased to exist.

That was inevitable even if the Russian economy had remained strong.   

The Lada was a former Fiat line that long ago became outdated in Italy.   I surmise Fiat sold the manufacturing capability to the CCCP  around 1970 and it was resurrected.   

[calmissile]

That was inevitable even if the Russian economy had remained strong.   

The Lada was a former Fiat line that long ago became outdated in Italy.   I surmise Fiat sold the manufacturing capability to the CCCP  around 1970 and it was resurrected.   

Not sure I follow your logic for this one.  If the Russian economy remained strong the workers could have been paid, the subcontractors for parts could be paid, and there would be money to modernize the plants and create new competitive designs.  What am I missing?

[krimster2]

the Niva's weren't bad for a Russian car, not all Lada's looked like the Lada 1600.  I mean a Russian copy of a cheap Italian car, what could possibly go wrong?  The Lada 1600 was probably most common car in Crimea.  Simferopol also used to have an assembly plant for the Moscovitch but that shut down several years ago.  I bought my father-in-law one before it did, brand new straight from the factory was about $6500.  Kinda reminded me of a Rambler from the 60's.  I drove a Mitsubishi Colt when I lived in Crimea, it was OK...  Driving with Russians was fun!

[JayH]

The never ending stories of Russian suppression of dissent.


How My Friend, Vlad Kolesnikov, Was Driven To His Death In Putin's Russia

He didn't answer my calls. My panicked messages never reached him, either. They are still marked as unread. I contacted someone in Russia, who I thought could help.

A few hours later, police confirmed my worst fears: Vlad had passed away, killed by an overdose of prescription drugs. The teen who had been my daily online companion for weeks was now lying dead on the cold slab of some distant Russian morgue.

His name was Vladislav Pavlovich Kolesnikov. He was 18.

As a journalist, I had written about Vlad's troubles before. But when I contacted him again on December 2 to follow up, his answer looked like a cry for help. He seemed desperate and wanted to talk to me about his life. We chatted on Telegram, often several times a day. Most of the time, I just listened.

Vlad asked me to tell his story if anything happened to him. He wanted the world to know about the persecution, the violence, and the crushing isolation that can befall anyone in Russia deemed to be different.

http://www.rferl.mobi/a/how-my-friend-vlad-kolesnikov-was-driven-to-death-in-putin-russia/27451872.html


Russian Youth Pays Price For Speaking Out Over Ukraine
Russian antiwar activist Vlad Kolesnikov
Share
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Aleksandr Herzen, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov. Now, a 17-year-old from a Moscow suburb is joining such notables in the long-standing Russian tradition of being exiled for his political views.

"All the democrats in Russia were sent into exile," teenager Vlad Kolesnikov says, "and I feel like I have been sent into exile."

For some weeks now, Kolesnikov has been leading a quixotic and lonely campaign to protest Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and Moscow's involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Most recently, he wore a T-shirt with a Ukrainian flag and the words "Return Crimea" on it to his school in the Moscow suburb of Podolsk. He tells how a school official met him outside the classroom.

"You know, I will never forget how he looked," Kolesnikov tells RFE/RL's Russian Service. "At first he looked at me like a normal, sane person. But when he saw my shirt, he looked into my face and I saw such hatred!"


[/b][/size]
http://www.rferl.mobi/a/russia-youth-antiwar-ukraine-persecution/27069023.html

The father of the deceased 18-year-old Russian activist Vlad Kolesnikov, who supported Ukraine and opposed the occupation of Crimea by Russia in an interview with "truth Kosmsomolskoy" said he did not believe in the suicide of his son.

http://m.inforesist.org/otets-pogibshego-rossiyskogo-aktivista-otverg-versiyu-o-samoubiystve-syina/

[BdHvA]

"AvtoVAZ", largest Russian carmaker, has ceased to exist.
Experts assembled the last car in the company's history, a five-door LADA 4 × 4, on December 22.
The production personel not being paid for months refused to work.
Turkish subcontractors had stopped to supply AVtoVaz after the unpaid bills had reached an unbearable level.
The president of the company declared bankrupcy.
The ownership of the factory will be transfered to the mayoral council of Togliatti.

This would be big news, and it would not be the first time that a company with some association with GM ceases opperation. GM has a enviable track record of screwing the tax payers, the US government and foreign governments, as well as those who drive there vehicles.

But the bankruptcy of AvtoVAZ would be big news and there are no reports in media or on financial news sources about this.

Can you provide any links?

[BCKev]

This would be big news, and it would not be the first time that a company with some association with GM ceases opperation. GM has a enviable track record of screwing the tax payers, the US government and foreign governments, as well as those who drive there vehicles.

But the bankruptcy of AvtoVAZ would be big news and there are no reports in media or on financial news sources about this.

Can you provide any links?

According to the GM/Avtovaz website, it is merely a shutdown for the holiday season:

"In accordance with the production schedule, winter corporate vacations at GM-AVTOVAZ will stretch from December 24th, 2015, through January 18th, 2016.
During the planned shutdown period, technical maintenance of the equipment and facilities will be held.
January 19th, the JV will re-start operation."

http://gm-avtovaz.ru/en/company/news/winter_corporate_vacations_at_gmavtovaz/

[JayH]

Don't worry, it will be here soon...

"Everything indicates that low oil prices are likely to dominate next year. And it is possible that at some periods [the oil price] will be $30 per barrel," Siluanov was quoted as saying by Russian state-run news agencies.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/14/news/economy/russia-30-oil-budget/

Russia's Ex-FinMin Says Putin Wrong On Economy

Contrary to official opinion in Moscow, Russia’s economy has not finished bottoming out, says ex-Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.

“We are seeing some further deterioration in November economic data,” he told Interfax on Monday. “To me, this means that the situation is unstable. When you add the sharp decline in oil prices…it makes for an unstable environment. If (oil) prices remain at this level for another six months or a year, we will see the continued fall of the Russian economy.”

Last week Russia approved its 2016 budget based on oil prices of $50 per barrel. But oil is already trading below $40 a barrel, suggesting the Russian parliament will have to take another look at the numbers at some point next year.

Russian economic data remained negative in November, for the most part. However, the declines are becoming less sharp than they were a few months ago. Record oil exports for Russia, one of the world’s cheapest producers, are helping produce trade surpluses. But the government is already working on the idea that next year will see more money leaving Russia than coming in.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2015/12/28/russias-ex-finmin-says-putin-wrong-on-economy/

[AkMike]

Panic in annexed Crimea: locals rush to ATMs

30.12.2015 | 13:33


Residents of the Russian-occupied Crimea have been spotted in lines to the ATMs to withdraw their money fearing to lose the funds in their accounts because of the debts on loans to Ukrainian banks, according to Novosti Kryma news outlet.

"In 2016, indeed, there will be an opportunity to write off funds from the bank accounts upon court orders, without the consent of the cardholder. However, this does not apply to debts of Crimean residents to the Ukrainian banks, since there have been no such orders yet," the occupied Crimea’s bailiff service reported.

Read more on UNIAN: http://www.unian.info/economics/1226404-panic-in-annexed-crimea-locals-rush-to-atms.html

[AkMike]

Putin earns low grades for managing Russia's economy
30.12.2015

President Vladimir Putin scored an F, the lowest possible, from 27% of respondents in a Bloomberg survey that invited them to assess his management of the economy in crisis.

An additional 50% gave him the next two poorest grades, with a single person saying the Russian leader deserved an A, the highest mark,according to Bloomberg.
The majority of the 22 economists in the poll rated the central bank a B, which was also the most common grade assigned to the Finance Ministry.
"All the economic miseries are amplified by international sanctions which were brought upon Russia by its foreign policy in Ukraine," said Nerijus Maciulis, chief economist at Swedbank AB in Vilnius, Lithuania.
"And the man who presumably orchestrated them deserves only an F," he said.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the rest of the cabinet were each given a C more often than any of the other grades, according to the survey. Putin, meanwhile, ended with the lowest median mark, and the central bank and the Finance Ministry had the highest.


[/color]http://www.unian.info/economics/1226211-putin-earns-low-grades-for-managing-russias-economy.html#

[AkMike]

Russian economy to endure difficult 2016, warns minister.   

  The recent decline in oil prices has cast a shadow on the recovery of Russia's oil-dependent economy (AFP Photo/Andrey Golovanov)Moscow (AFP) - Russia's finance minister predicted Wednesday that 2016 would be a difficult year for his country's recession-hit economy, already reeling from low oil prices.As the economy slides, Russia's battered ruble reached a 2015 low on Wednesday, standing at 73.24 against the dollar, a year after suffering its worst decline in 15 years."Next year will not be simple," Anton Siluanov said in an interview with Russian state television. "The latest predictions show that the price of our main exports could be lower than predicted.

"The ruble lost around half of its value in 2014 but recovered slightly as energy prices stabilised earlier this year, allowing officials to claim the worst of the crisis had passed.But the recent decline in oil prices -- with Brent crude reaching an 11-year low this month -- has cast a shadow on the recovery of Russia's oil-dependent economy.The country's 2016 budget had been calculated on an oil price of $50 per barrel, a figure President Vladimir Putin said was an "optimistic" assessment of the situation, with the price now hovering around $37.Siluanov predicted the oil price would stay around $40 per barrel on average, and that spending cuts and privatisation measures would be integrated into the budget.At his annual press conference earlier this month,

 Putin insisted the country could weather the headwinds, despite volatility in oil prices.The Russian government has forecast the country's GDP would increase 0.7 percent next year, after falling 3.7 percent in 2015.http://news.yahoo.com/russian-...ister-004931036.html