Posted on 12/18/2023 9:31:32 AM PST by Mount Athos
Soon after Russian troops invaded his country, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, made a plea to Western companies: “Leave Russia,” he said. “Make sure that the Russians do not receive a single penny.”
Hundreds of companies answered the call. Politicians and activists predicted that it would help strangle the Russian economy and undermine the Kremlin’s war effort.
President Vladimir V. Putin had other plans.
Mr. Putin has turned the exits of major Western companies into a windfall for Russia’s loyal elite and the state itself. He has forced companies wishing to sell to do so at fire-sale prices. He has limited sales to buyers anointed by Moscow. Sometimes he has seized firms outright.
A New York Times investigation traced how Mr. Putin has turned an expected misfortune into an enrichment scheme. Western companies that have announced departures have declared more than $103 billion in losses since the start of the war, according to a Times analysis of financial reports. Mr. Putin has squeezed companies for as much of that wealth as possible by dictating the terms of their departure.
He has also subjected those exits to ever-increasing taxes, generating at least $1.25 billion in the past year for Russia’s war chest.
In all, Mr. Putin has overseen one of the biggest transfers of wealth within Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Today in Russia, a robust consumer world carries on, helping Mr. Putin maintain a sense of normalcy. Most foreign companies remain in Russia, unwilling to lose the billions they’ve invested there over decades.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Another “Man Bites Dog” story from the NYT.
Now they admit the sanctions are a failure, and actually helped Putin and Russia.
They are systematically exposing every false claim and Regime Narrative about the Ukraine war.
The REgme is gEtting ready to cut Zelensky lose.
OR - how once again, DC elites and neocons got it exactly wrong, pushed their corrupt schemes, and screwed America with their stupidity.
And amongst Zeepers there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth
Only months ago, while seeming to favor Ukraine -- according to that same Freeper -- the New York Times was Ukrainian propaganda.
Surely this sounds like the New York Times is "triangulating" for the coming months.
Meanwhile....
Austin Warns Congress Failing to Pass Ukraine Aid ‘Very Likely’ Leads to US Troops on the Ground In Europe Messenger, 5 December 2023Which man bites which dog as time passes will be more interesting to watch. :)Lloyd Austin Threatens to Deploy Troops if Ukraine Aid is Shut Down American Greatness, 6 December 2023
How many of these countries scr**** themselves with these boycotts ...all of them.
And inflation there is so bad that their central bank rate is 16%. May be a bonanza for Putin’s favored boyars, but overall it doesn’t look so good. What was that about egg prices again?
I guess the NYT is sad Putin didn’t write McD’s and the other western companies a check!
Of course the russkies made their departure as painful as possible. What the f*ck did they expect? Also, what were these companies supposed to do? Just walk out, leave everything, not try to recoup something? They were under Biden’s orders. And who were the buyers? The West made it illegal for any westerner to invest in russia. So the only ones left were locals, buying from desperate sellers, without competition.
Dumbasses.
Nearly all the companies that screwed were European.
Thanks to American neocons and arrogant, globohomo DC central-planners Ukraine will of course disappear, but Germany will be the real long-term loser
It will pay through the nose for energy, it will see major industries disappear completely (chemical, plastics, auto), it will lose its export competitiveness, and having been captured by Brussels/Davos/WEF freaks their population will be replaced with immigrants.
Meanwhile the west, including the U.S., refuses to drill baby drill and mine baby mine our own energy. So we, Europe, and Asian nations wind up giving even more money to Russia.
.
Putin was dying of advanced Cancer a year and a half ago per Jennifer Griffin.
You don’t think she lied? Nah, $$$& wasn’t involved.
Couldn’t be.
So you mean, he did what Western governments did when they seized the assets of Russian citizens in their countries whether those citizens had been convicted or even tried for any crime or not - simply because they happen to have been born Russian? You mean like that?
As will happen when the left realizes how much cash their corporate pals have sent to “Ruzzia”
Jennifer Griffin is a complete CIA cutout. Nothing she says can be relied on. The fact the Fox hasn’t fired her speaks volumes.
Senile Joe ( and his bunch) enriched Russia, and put US hegemony on the block….but more importantly, history teaches us when the US sanctioned Japan in the late 1930’s, it caused them to finally attack the US.
Senile Joe and his war cheerleaders are so, so…..well, stupid. History shows Sanctions NEVER worked, only increasing tensions and war…..Vlad has shown the brain dead they are no longer “ just a gas station”….go Vlad.
Yes. Agreed.
Putin nationalized (stole, expropriated) foreign investors assets. His cronies end up on the new title.
Kind of a one shot deal. He can’t steal them again next year.
It will be a long time, if ever, before the boards of those foreign firms ever invest in Russia again
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