Posted on 03/18/2014 8:49:29 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
YALTA, Crimea — Many A.T.M.s in this sun-dappled seaside resort city in Crimea, and across the region, have been empty in recent days, with little white “transaction denied” slips piling up around them. Banks that do have cash have been imposing severe restrictions on withdrawals.
All flights, other than those to or from Moscow, remain canceled in what could become the norm if the dispute over Crimea’s political status drags on, a chilling prospect just a month before tourist season begins in a place beloved as a vacation playground since czarist times.
Even with the West imposing sanctions to punish Russia’s invasion of Crimea, President Vladimir V. Putin faces a far steeper financial liability as he pushes to annex the peninsula, which lacks a self-sustaining economy and depends heavily on mainland Ukraine for vital services, including electricity and fresh water.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
One thing I was wondering about was mail.
If their postal service is routed via Ukraine... will they ever get mail?
A very expensive prize - and now Russia has to foot the tab at a time when the Russian economy is slowing down.
Crimea could become a black hole - if only due to corruption in which vast sums of money often vanish without a trace. Making sure that doesn’t happen to Crimea is a considerable challenge.
And integrating the peninsula to Russia will likely take years.
Russia Post is taking over mail delivery services. The federal government has yet to establish an effective presence in Crimea.
“Crimea could become a black hole - if only due to corruption in which vast sums of money often vanish without a trace.”
That’s a fair description of Russia, a black hole where money is routinely funnelled to a small cabal of oligarchs connected to Putin.
Well, it IS the NYTimes’ job to put lipstick on Obama’s pigs.
Corruption is the most serious problem facing Russia.
Its always was a problem even in the Soviet time but there seems to be no real accountability when people steal.
Of course its nearly impossible to crack down on it effectively in the absence of a vibrant civil society and truly independent judiciary.
“at a time when the Russian economy is slowing down.”
Russia has low debt, and big cash reserves. They can easily handle a short-term downturn, especially with the direct-to-China pipeline link from the oil and gas fields of Eastern Siberia opening soon.
Meanwhile, our own “leadership” is doing all they can to raise the price of energy, which benefits Russia hugely.
Yes, but it’s also true that it was much worse in the years before Putin. At that time, the corruption was so massive that it would have collapsed their economy entirely had it not been for the West. In the sudden absence of the state, people just made off with whatever they could and evaded taxes.
Having a strongman like Putin restore order at that time was I think probably a good thing; he stopped the uncontrolled bleeding, although he still demanded blood tribute.
But it’s been years since the bleeding stopped, and Putin’s brand of neo-fascism and institutionalized corruption needs to go.
“where money is routinely funnelled to a small cabal of oligarchs connected to Putin.”
You mean Oligarch’s that prfit from government money funneled to them like The Google Twins, Warren Buffet, George Soros, Zuckerburg, Rex Tillson, Chris Hughes, etc?
THOSE kind of politician-buying Oligarchs?
Thanks to unchecked and rampant Democrat Corruption in America, we have very little room now to criticize Russia for it. They are ever so slowing moving away from that system, while we are screaming TOWARD it.
What we imposed on Russia immediate after the collapse of the Soviet Union was akin to what was done to Germany after WWI, and we all know what that ultimately resulted in.
I believe Reagan would have done everything in his power to make the transition from the Soviet Union to a functioning stable country as smooth as possible.
Most of Russia’s money comes from oil and gas revenues, so it makes them much more vulnerable than they might seem on paper.That’s dangerous especially if the price of those commodities drop.
I’m sure you remember how President Reagan famously used that dependency to bring the Soviet Union to its knees.
if the rule of law prevails over the cult of personality and
mafias they’d be at least as well off as Turkey. by joining Russia they merely trade second tier corrupt oligarchs for top tier..
The last I checked, the ‘American oligarchs’ that you name made their wealth themselves, although they’re proceeded to work towards destroying the economic system that made them rich.
They should be condemned for that, although there’s a difference between using your wealth for malicious reasons and making billions overnight as the Russian oligarchs did.
The Ukraine should cut off everything to that region. Make Russia pay the price and keep paying for this boondoggle that Putin got himself into.
Russia should move into Ukraine and slaughter the Tartar muslims that threw out the elected government and take the whole country back!
They can ride in on the backs of reanimated mastodons and wooly mammoths and take back the land that is rightfully theirs!
sort of funny,
Go to Travelocity or the like and try to get a plane ride to the Crimea in the near future.
Not available.
Gots to be good for the economy?
You’d have to fly to Moscow and then fly to Crimea from there.
Its a beautiful place and the beaches are a resort tourist’s wet dream.
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