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Banks are stopping Putin from tapping a $630 billion war chest Russia stockpiled before invading Ukraine

Rogue Valley

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Banks are stopping Putin from tapping a $630 billion war chest Russia stockpiled before invading Ukraine

iu

3.3.22
Russia's central bank has been stockpiling foreign reserves ever since Russia last invaded Ukraine, when President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014. Since then, Russia's holdings of foreign currency and gold have almost doubled, ballooning to $630 billion today from $368 billion seven years ago. Building foreign reserves could have been a way for the Kremlin to guard Russia's economy against sanctions, by giving the central bank more ammunition to protect the value of the ruble. The ruble lost half its value against the U.S. dollar after Russia annexed Crimea, forcing Russia's central bank to spend $130 billion to stabilize the currency. Except it turns out Russia’s foreign reserves strategy had a major flaw: about half of the money was held overseas in foreign banks—and now Russia can’t get to it. On Monday, the U.S., Japan and the European Union barred Russia’s central bank from tapping into the billions of foreign reserves Moscow had been saving up in their banks. "As Russian forces unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies," the leaders of the allied economies said in a joint statement announcing the accounts freeze on Feb. 26.

50% of the hard currency Russia Central Bank Director Elvira Nabiulina had stashed away to prop up the Russian economy in an emergency is now unavailable. This is a serious blow to the Kremlin and Russians.

On the day before Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the Russian rouble was valued at 81 to the dollar. Today it is 118 rouble to the dollar. This is crushing and will turbo-charge inflation and a cascade of bankruptcy.

Russians have not saved money. They have been living on credit cards. Moody's and Fitch has downgraded Russian stocks and derivitives to "junk" status.

Russian rouble slides further after ratings downgrades
 
The problem with this is that Russia has loans to international banks. Those banks are not receiving those loan payments from Russia.
 
Just a note: Being downgraded to junk status of bonds/derivatives didn't stop them from being heavily used by corps/banks and backed by the Fed leading to the US and global sub-prime crisis of 2008. Not to worry. The US bailed out the financial industry. Funny mentioning Moody and Fitch. It was theirs, along with Standard & Poor's, propped-up credit ratings that greased the rails enroute to the disaster.
 
The problem with this is that Russia has loans to international banks. Those banks are not receiving those loan payments from Russia.

Everyone knows the potential downsides of doing business with a dictatorship that ignores the norms of civilized societies.
 
Banks are stopping Putin from tapping a $630 billion war chest Russia stockpiled before invading Ukraine

iu



50% of the hard currency Russia Central Bank Director Elvira Nabiulina had stashed away to prop up the Russian economy in an emergency is now unavailable. This is a serious blow to the Kremlin and Russians.

On the day before Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the Russian rouble was valued at 81 to the dollar. Today it is 118 rouble to the dollar. This is crushing and will turbo-charge inflation and a cascade of bankruptcy.

Russians have not saved money. They have been living on credit cards. Moody's and Fitch has downgraded Russian stocks and derivitives to "junk" status.

Russian rouble slides further after ratings downgrades

I was wondering how sanctions could hurt a country with 650 billion in reserves, now I know.

Happy to know this...very happy.
 
The problem with this is that Russia has loans to international banks. Those banks are not receiving those loan payments from Russia.
After this is all over, and Ukraine is finished extracting their pound of flesh from Russia to pay for the damage done, international banks who are owed money from Russia can have what's left.
 
I was wondering how sanctions could hurt a country with 650 billion in reserves, now I know.

Happy to know this...very happy.
They are going to start "conscripting" a lot more people into working for free to support this mission.
 
After this is all over, and Ukraine is finished extracting their pound of flesh from Russia to pay for the damage done, international banks who are owed money from Russia can have what's left.
I can think of some massive yachts and an Italian Villa that should now belong to Ukraine already.
 
The problem with this is that Russia has loans to international banks. Those banks are not receiving those loan payments from Russia.
Why is it a problem? Entities default on their loans from time to time for reasons beyond their control. Banking can be risky.
 
I can think of some massive yachts and an Italian Villa that should now belong to Ukraine already.

I just had a creative thought: Why not have a grand jury indict all the Russian oligarchs who visit or reside in the US on RICO charges? Clearly Putin runs a criminal enterprise, a Mafia State that assassinates and murders people all over the world, launders money, invades countries, etc. and the oligarchs and politicians are part of that criminal enterprise.

And under RICO you can't use funds or assets that may have been obtained through participation in the criminal enterprise. A trial could take years, leaving the their goodies and foreign moneys untouched.
 
I just had a creative thought: Why not have a grand jury indict all the Russian oligarchs who visit or reside in the US on RICO charges? Clearly Putin runs a criminal enterprise, a Mafia State that assassinates and murders people all over the world, launders money, invades countries, etc. and the oligarchs and politicians are part of that criminal enterprise.

And under RICO you can't use funds or assets that may have been obtained through participation in the criminal enterprise. A trial could take years, leaving the their goodies and foreign moneys untouched.
Then lighten their sentences based on how many more criminals they can roll over on. Full-on world-wide take down.
 
Then lighten their sentences based on how many more criminals they can roll over on. Full-on world-wide take down.

Most likely it would mean they's never come to the US for their property and would likely have to be extradited. No matter, becoming wanted they'd likely never visit a country with an extradition treaty with the US. They can all die in Russia for all I care. No more yachting in the national waters or ports anywhere but Russia, N. Korea or China... assuming they don't need refueling between the Black Sea and China.
 
Most likely it would mean they's never come to the US for their property and would likely have to be extradited. No matter, becoming wanted they'd likely never visit a country with an extradition treaty with the US. They can all die in Russia for all I care. No more yachting in the national waters or ports anywhere but Russia, N. Korea or China... assuming they don't need refueling between the Black Sea and China.
Have the ICC step up and let them rot in the Hague.
 
European and Chinese banks are more vulnerable.

Nobody else has the money to lend to be vulnerable and Canada is too smart.

BTW, the US used to be one of the largest sources of loans to Russia.
 
Nobody else has the money to lend to be vulnerable and Canada is too smart.

BTW, the US used to be one of the largest sources of loans to Russia.

I know. The US saved Russia's bacon during WWII also.
 
I know. The US saved Russia's bacon during WWII also.

And Patton wanted the US and Allies to just keep rolling into Russia as he saw them as the world's greatest threat. Of course, arming Russia demolished the German army, cost millions of Soviet lives, and thereby saved untold Allied lives.
 
And Patton wanted the US and Allies to just keep rolling into Russia as he saw them as the world's greatest threat.

Why didn't Patten get in the way of Russia occupying eastern and central European nations?

Wanting to do something and doing it are two different things.
 
FDR/Truman probably told him not to.

I posed a rhetorical question.

It wasn't an accident that the USSR wound up with central and eastern Europe.

Yalta happened.
 
Why didn't Patten get in the way of Russia occupying eastern and central European nations?

Wanting to do something and doing it are two different things.

Russia already had E Europe. Patton meant to break Russia, not simply push them out of E. Europe. The Russian military was spent. Military arms and supplies were all because of US funding. The US had more human, $ and military resources and access to raw material than any country on earth. Still, moving on Russia would have been an historical disaster.
 
Russia already had E Europe. Patton meant to break Russia, not simply push them out of E. Europe. The Russian military was spent. Military arms and supplies were all because of US funding. The US had more human, $ and military resources and access to raw material than any country on earth. Still, moving on Russia would have been an historical disaster.

Patton was neither Presidents Roosevelt/Truman nor Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower.

It wasn't his decision to make.
 
I know. The US saved Russia's bacon during WWII also.

Russia was already turning the tides on the Nazi's prior to US even getting involved with D day, without Russia and depleting Nazi's soldiers and equipment (Or Hitlers idiocy of invading them) the battle would have been a lot more bloodier
 
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