Sanctions on Russia

Nathan Thomas12 said:From what I gather, the BRICS nations are planning to roll out their own alternative to SWIFT.

The funny thing is, their "replacement" works so incredibly well that they actually end up leaning on the existing SWIFT infrastructure just to get their transactions through. It's kind of ironic, right?

https://www.swift.com/news-events/pr...-services-cips

Nancy Gomez26 said:So, what does ExxonMobil plan to do with all that cash piling up in those accounts?
I am not suggesting their strategy is foolish—they clearly understand why they are accepting payments for gas into those specific accounts, regardless of the circumstances. They have a reason. My question is simply looking for a competent answer. This could even be a matter of pure logistics; I am aware that certain supply hubs cannot simply be shut down overnight. Like a pressurized system, the flow has to stay constant, even if it's just a trickle.

The only thing that makes sense to me right now is that they're trying to prop up the Ruble, but honestly, you can't really do much with the Ruble anyway, not even over in China.

David Torres2 said:The only thing that makes sense to me right now is that they're trying to prop up the Ruble, but honestly, you can't really do much with the Ruble anyway, not even over in China.

Sure, they could support the ruble by manipulating the conversion rates to the dollar—essentially rigging the exchange rate. But there’s a catch. How exactly do they plan to pay people out in physical cash when those digital dollars in a bank account become practically worthless? Most wealth today exists as digits on a screen, not paper in a wallet. If you get kicked out of that digital ecosystem, you're left staring at everyone else spending money while you have nothing.

Nancy Gomez26 said:Sure, they could support the ruble by manipulating the conversion rates to the dollar—essentially rigging the exchange rate. But there’s a catch. How exactly do they plan to pay people out in physical cash when those digital dollars in a bank account become practically worthless? Most wealth today exists as digits on a screen, not paper in a wallet. If you get kicked out of that digital ecosystem, you're left staring at everyone else spending money while you have nothing.

Yeah, I totally get what you mean. Honestly, this move doesn't change much for the Russians; if anything, it might actually mess up their ability to make payments altogether.
Paying in Euros wouldn't have mattered much anyway, since they were already dealing with that before the sanctions hit.

It feels more like this: they can't really land a heavy punch, so they'll just spit on you instead.
At this point, it's like they're paying for a Bosch pump with gold coins while both sides just smuggle whatever they need across the border under their coats.

China's Huawei announced it will not enter new contracts in Russia due to sanctions. On top of that, Ericsson suspends its business as well. Since Huawei and Ericsson are Russia's most important providers of Mobile communications infrastructure, things are about to get interesting.

According to the Ukrainian news channel Rus, oil exports via tanker have surged

But
☕it's taking longer to ship everything out, even with those discounts offered to Asian buyers

Dennis Price said:China's Huawei announced it will not enter new contracts in Russia due to sanctions. On top of that, Ericsson suspends its business as well. Since Huawei and Ericsson are Russia's most important providers of Mobile communications infrastructure, things are about to get interesting.

They’ve basically pulled the rug out from under the local workers there, too. Apparently, the Chinese staff in the country have all been sent on paid leave. It feels like a massive wave of unemployment is just looming over Russia right now.

Honestly, the West can be as happy with China as they want. The real question is whether this is just fallout from the pandemic and those disastrous zero-tolerance policies. Either way—China isn't looking for a fight with the West this year. If they start picking scraps, it probably means their own domestic legitimacy is slipping so badly they need an external enemy to distract people.

Just this for Stephen, who seems to think these sanctions are actually going to tank the Russian economy and wreck their currency 🤣

Record Profits for Russia, Easily Avoiding Sanctions

USD-RUB

Bryan Gray91 said:Just this for Stephen, who seems to think these sanctions are actually going to tank the Russian economy and wreck their currency 🤣

Record Profits for Russia, Easily Avoiding Sanctions

USD-RUB

Let me know when people in Russia can actually buy dollars there at that rate. They’d jump at the chance, especially with the inflation they're dealing with. And I wouldn't be surprised if a ton of money was swindled from regular folks through speculation over the last month alone. 🙄

Bryan Gray91 said:Just this for Stephen, who seems to think these sanctions are actually going to tank the Russian economy and wreck their currency 🤣

Record Profits for Russia, Easily Avoiding Sanctions

USD-RUB

Don't forget—interbank rates in Russia are sitting at 20%. That means if you want a loan, you're looking at 25% interest or higher. It’s all a facade. Their currency is trash.

The US can make twice as much money starting now, but they're totally cut off from Western markets and tech. Eventually, those cracks turn into craters. They won't even be able to fly planes...

It’s an easy target for the ruble. They can likely keep it on life support for a little while longer.
With war projections suggesting GDP will drop by 11-15% within a month, if the conflict and sanctions continue to escalate, we could be looking at a hit exceeding 20%—regardless of whether they try to prop up the ruble or not.

The OPEC Secretary General advises caution regarding sanctions.

It looks like Indian companies are finally starting to play it safe when it comes to dealing with Russian oil, especially since they’ve already been snagging those sweet discounted prices for a while now.

exclusive news report Some banks have actually pulled the plug on credit lines for oil imports handled by Nayara, an Indian refiner owned by Rosneft, according to some sources https://www.reuters.com/business/exc...source=twitter

goldenowl73 said:It looks like Indian companies are finally starting to play it safe when it comes to dealing with Russian oil, especially since they’ve already been snagging those sweet discounted prices for a while now.

exclusive news report Some banks have actually pulled the plug on credit lines for oil imports handled by Nayara, an Indian refiner owned by Rosneft, according to some sources https://www.reuters.com/business/exc...source=twitter

Honestly, it’d be a smart move if Asia just leaned harder into the Russian oil plan, letting the supply from South Africa and Qatar flow into Europe instead.

But everyone's playing it safe when it comes to the Russians.

Sent from my iPhone

Four fingers. said:About 86% of the population in China is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

I don't trust those numbers any more than I trust the official infection counts—not that I'd even attempt to guess what kind of math they used to get there.

The Ruble is back above 105 again. I’m sitting here wondering if the Russian Central Bank actually has enough gas left in the tank to pump more foreign currency into the market just to prop up the exchange rate, especially since they haven't even settled that foreign debt hitting the $4.4 billion mark.

hollowdriver13 said:The Ruble is back above 105 again. I’m sitting here wondering if the Russian Central Bank actually has enough gas left in the tank to pump more foreign currency into the market just to prop up the exchange rate, especially since they haven't even settled that foreign debt hitting the $4.4 billion mark.

How exactly do they plan on paying it when their overseas foreign currency reserves are completely frozen 🤷?

Michael Ortiz68 said:How exactly do they plan on paying it when their overseas foreign currency reserves are completely frozen 🤷?

They still have their domestic reserves, don't they?

Michael Ortiz68 said:How exactly do they plan on paying it when their overseas foreign currency reserves are completely frozen 🤷?

The hard currency that ExxonMobil is pulling in—instead of just sitting on it to stabilize their exchange rate—is basically being funneled straight toward paying down debt.
If they don't settle up within that 30-day grace period, the whole thing is going to spiral. Honestly, this kind of move could push Russia into its first major bankruptcy, something we haven't seen since the days of Lenin, who famously refused to honor the old debts left over from the Tsarist era.