[deMolay]

If Russia starts going down the tubes again. It could be an interesting winter for the EU.

[Jotapay]

I always thought the total collapse in the price of oil would serve two convenient purposes for Western governments: (1) to conserve resources a bit longer in the face of the recent IEA November 2008 report and (2) to collapse the economies of Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

I also thought the price of oil would stay low for 18 months or so, just long enough to make them capitulate after they got so belligerent from 2006-2008. Have you noticed how we have not heard one peep out of Chavez for several months now, when he was saber-rattling every week in 2006 and 2007?

http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/02/r ... again.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... t8Ejju39uo
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsN ... 210?rpc=44

Thanks to Stephanie on Ticker Forum for links.

[timmac]

Yea it all sounds good however when countries like Russia go into a collapse they turn to war,, reason I don't know why but its just a way of life I guess.

Have you also heard that Putin is blaming the worlds economy down turn on America, maybe he needs a new reason why he might nuke us in the future..

[RdSnt]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('timmac', 'Y')ea it all sounds good however when countries like Russia go into a collapse they turn to war,, reason I don't know why but its just a way of life I guess.

Have you also heard that Putin is blaming the worlds economy down turn on America, maybe he needs a new reason why he might nuke us in the future..

[timmac]

Germany ?? Did not Hitler blame the Jews and the debt from WW1 that collapsed there goverment for a reason to take over Europe..

[Quinny]

How is Germany, 'like Russia'?

[bratticus]

Third Reich?
History does not repeat but it does rhyme.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Russia's Recession Squeezes Migrants
Millions of Foreigners, Lured by Oil Boom, Now Face Bias in Ethnic Backlash

By Sarah Schafer
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, February 8, 2009; Page A17

MOSCOW -- A few years ago, Alisher Azizov traveled by train to Moscow from Tajikistan in search of a better life, and he found it.

Working as a security guard and stock boy for a flower shop, the 32-year-old son of peasants earned about $1,000 a month, 15 times the average salary in his impoverished homeland and enough to support the extended family he left behind -- his wife, five sons, parents and seven siblings.

But a few weeks ago, his boss slashed his salary by two-thirds, blaming the global economic crisis that has battered Russia. At those wages, Azizov couldn't afford the rent for the cramped apartment he shares with several other migrant workers. So he found himself at the train station again, contemplating the long journey back to his home village.

Azizov is one of millions of migrant workers who were lured to Russia over the past eight years by its long oil boom -- and who are now struggling to get by as the country grapples with its worst recession in a decade. As the downturn deepens and companies cut costs, these workers have been among the first to be refused their wages and lose their jobs.

The plight of the estimated 12 million foreign workers in Russia -- the largest immigrant population in the world outside the United States -- will be felt in their home countries, primarily the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, where remittances account for as much as half of gross domestic product.

But it also poses a stark challenge for the Russian government, which must contend with a huge pool of alienated and unemployed immigrants in a society that has already seen a troubling increase in racially motivated violence.

Russia needs immigrants because its working-age population is shrinking drastically. But nationalist political rhetoric and rising unemployment are fueling a popular backlash against them. If the furor results in tighter immigration policies or an exodus of workers, activists warn, the Russian economy could suffer further damage.

... snip ...

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Russia denies reports of bank debt restructuring
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
Last update: 11:04 a.m. EST Feb. 10, 2009

... skip ...

"We don't see a repeat of 1998; indeed Russian policy makers will do everything to avoid the utter humiliation of 1998," Ash said in a note.

... skip ...

"Still, the market may well conclude that where there is smoke there is fire, and mark relevant assets down accordingly," Ash said. "Herein Russian assets across the board, plus European banks with exposure to the region, and thereby the euro are all likely to feel the pain over the next few days/weeks."

... snip ...

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Russia Faces ‘Toxic Assets’ Threat, Deripaska Says

By Yuriy Humber and Maria Kolesnikova
Bloomberg
February 11, 2009

Billionaire Oleg Deripaska, reckoned last year to be Russia’s richest man, said the nation faces a problem of “toxic assets,” such as property and industry projects that no longer make economic sense.

“No one talks in Russia about toxic assets but it’s already an issue,” Deripaska told reporters in Moscow today, adding that industry conditions may worsen next quarter before the economy begins to recover in a year.

Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter, is facing its worst crisis since defaulting on $40 billion of domestic debt in August 1998. The ruble has tumbled 36 percent against a dollar- euro basket since August as oil prices fell. Companies have sold about $110 billion of foreign debt due this year, according to the central bank, double that owed in Brazil, India and China.

... snip ...

[Serial_Worrier]

Everything is fine in Russia as long as you listen to Comrade Putin.

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')ussia's economy contracted sharply in April - shrinking by 10.5% from the same month a year ago - Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach has said.

The data came as officials were quoted as saying Russia would have a budget deficit equivalent to 9% of GDP in 2009, from an earlier 7.4% prediction.

Russia's economy had been growing thanks to high oil prices, which peaked at about $147 a barrel last summer.

But since then, the price of oil, a key export, has fallen by more than half.

The sharp drop in the economy in April came after Federal State Statistics figures showed that, on a year-on-year basis, output dropped 9.5% in the first three months of the year.

[AskMaxim]

Hi guys!

I am just back from one of the biggest retailers in Moscow - a German chain 'Metro Cash and Carry'.
(It is actually a wholesale club similar to US' Costco, rather than a retailer, anyhow.)

Yeah... It is crisis... Rows of cash desks in a Metro hypermarket are desolate. Cashiers were recently laid off or forced out by salary cuts or workload increases or both. (I actually asked the service desk - the above is a verified statement.) That's an entire half-store that is desolate.

And the other half... is full with endless lines where you can stand for hours with your full of groceries extra-large shopping cart. The remaining cashiers who were not cut are overloaded with no chance to go to bathroom for hours. Some shoppers abandon their carts and leave the store.

The idiots in the German management and their idiot local puppet reps slayed - who? - the cashiers in a country where food and necessities cost only more and more in the crisis than before, and lines of shoppers are all that long 24/7 (see my other posts).

No more words.