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Ukraine’s Next Crisis? Economic Disaster
Submitted by Robert Bensch via OilPrice.com,
Ukraine’s next crisis will be a devastatingly economic one, as violent conflict destroys critical infrastructure in the east and brings key industry to a halt, furthering weakening the energy sector by crippling coal-based electricity production.
The Ukrainian military’s showdown with separatists in the industrial east has forced coal mines to severely cut production or close down entirely. This has led to an electricity crisis that can only be staunched by cutting domestic production along with exports to Europe, Crimea, and Belarus -- or worse, getting more imports from Russia.
In the coal centers of Ukraine’s industrial east—Luhansk and Donetsk—fighting has forced the full closure of an estimated 50 percent of coal mines, while overall coal production has fallen 22 percent over the same period last year.
Key industry sources say they will potentially run out of coal in less than three weeks.
For Ukraine, the second largest producer of coal in Europe, this will have a devastating impact on the energy sector, which is in a state of emergency, unable to get coal to thermal power plants that provide some 40 percent of the entire country’s electricity.
In the wider energy picture, the halt of coal production sets Ukraine back a decade. The plan was to rely more on coal in order to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas.
But the new reality has insiders wondering how Ukraine will produce more of its own natural gas, after the implementation earlier this month of an amended tax code that targets private gas producers with a tax so high that they will significantly reduce production through the end of the year and beyond that is anyone’s guess. (Full disclosure: my firm, Pelicourt LLC, is the majority shareholder of Ukraine’s third-largest gas producer, Cub Energy, and I have advised the U.S. and Canadian governments on the potential harm the new tax will cause.)
Economically, the conflict in the east is a disaster for Ukraine, which has traditionally been a net exporter of thermal coal for power generation. Now it will have to increase imports of fuel to make up for the loss. But even then, the destruction of supply routes makes this challenging.
Not only have coal supply routes been destroyed in the conflict, but other critical infrastructure has taken a hit as well, threatening other industries.
Across the board, Ukraine’s industrial heartland is reeling from cut-off supply and shipping chains that threaten to destroy as much as 5 percent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product in the second half of this year.
In the meantime, observers can be forgiven their confusion over various measures Kiev has taken since the intensification of the conflict. Indeed, the signals coming out of Kiev have been mixed, at best.
While parliament has passed a bill allowing for sanctions against Russia, the state-run Naftogaz leadership has been quick to point out that we probably shouldn’t expect sanctions against Russian gas giant Gazprom, and the new bill doesn’t implement sanctions of any kind—it simply makes it legal to slap sanctions on Russian individuals should Kiev decide to do so. Another paper tiger.
Parliament has also adopted a bill approving the joint-venture lease of Ukraine’s gas-transit facilities with Western firms.
At the same time, however, Kiev passed a new amendment to the tax code that doubles taxes for private gas producers and promises to keep Western investors as far away from Ukraine as they can get.
Each move is designed to negate the other. The economy is being destroyed, yet Kiev is itself destroying any chance of bringing in Western investment to prop it up. Western firms are invited to invest in Ukraine, while at the same time Ukraine makes a mockery of transparency and ensures that the investment climate is suddenly even less attractive than it was two weeks ago. Lip service is paid to developing more resources to build energy independence, but a new tax doubles costs for private producers who will stop producing and pick up stakes.
It’s hard not to conclude that Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan is working hard to discourage new investment in the energy sector.
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The Ukraine is a joke that gets funnier each time you tell it.
Recently, Forbes rated the Ukraine as 1 of the 10 worst economies in the world.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/07/05/the-worlds-worst-eco...
But the mainstream fuckwits won't ever make the connection that Ukraine hit the dire straights when it aligned itself with the US puppet
Looks like in addition to getting the NeoNazi leadership we picked for them they also got a crew of the same fucknut economists that are running things into the ground over here.
My guess is that the thermal coal and electricity reductions that are causing their economic collapse are just a part of Obama's new anti-CO2 global warming initiative...
The Banderatards doing the dirty work of the Kiev Yatzi Junta aren't even trying to directly engage the Novorussian militias. Their tactics all along have been to target the civilian population and infrastructure. I guess they never thought about the need for coal before they started shelling the coal mines.
But hey, someone defaced scumlord Bandera's grave in Munich, so I guess Yats will take Merkel hostage when she visits Kiev this weekend. At least we have that to look forward to.
http://cassad-eng.livejournal.com/60368.html
Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan policies are deliberate. He works for two of the most vicious Oligarchs, Kolomoisky and Akmentov, who want everything destroyed so that they can buy it for literally nothing. Then, courtesy of the USSA, they can borrow money and hire USSA contracters to build it up again, and stick the Ukies with the bill.
Unfortunately for them, Putin has stuck a spanner into their evil workings. Rumor has it that Kolomoisky has made private threats against Putin. If true, I would suggest that K. stop sniffing the white stuff and get his head out of his ass before Putin keeps it there permanently.
Prodan better watch what goes into his tea.
I am thinking that there are much better ways to go about business now. Polonium poison is so '90s.
I wonder if they have any tea plants in Prypiat.
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It's also more of a British thing. Or at the very least, an anti-Russian, London-based crime syndicate oligarch thing.
I never even knew until a few weeks ago that neither Litvinenko's father or brother believe that the Russian government was behind his polonium poisoning.
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/07/31/theresa-may-raises-an-o...
Interesting times we're living in.
It was easier to believe Putin was behind everything in pre-Ukraine days. Now that the Western propaganda machine has been exposed any statement coming from either of the sides is taken with a grain of salt. I'm not so sure about Litvinenko either, but who other than Putin's crew would have the motif? It might've not been issued as an executive order (pun intended), but I mean... who else?
Looking at Khodorkovsky also it becomes quite obvious that Putin does not tolerate any degree of personal threats, but unlike the US presidents, he takes a trageted approach to his disagreements instead of carpet-boming entire countries out of existence.
I don't believe anything from the US government unless they are threatening to do harm.
Khordorkovsky was a genuine crook. A swindler of the common people. He's lucky to be out of jail.
The biggest mystery is why Putin let him out in first place with nobody forcing his hand.
As for Khordorkovsky being a crook - who knows. That's how he's presented by the Putin regime, as he was a direct rival to Putin. In reality - hard to tell. He was a smart Jew (not meant as an insult) who was familiar with international banking ahead of the collapse of the USSR. As soon as opportunity presented himself, he set up a banking cartel, using all of the business practices standard in the US. Using the money earned he went straight for asset aquisition. Being among the first peopel to do things, he was simply ahead of the game.
His mistake was in becoming somewhat arrogant. I don't know whether he actually made any attempts at challenging Putin, or if it's hearsay, but I know he had a vision of "his Russia", which might've been enough.
A close friend of mine attended his lectures, when he was traveling on a charitable tour, right before imprisonment. He was described as an intelligent and well informed man. His ideas resonated with people, and that made him dangerous. Even if he wasn't directly challenging the power structure, he was successful at winning hearts and minds or ordinary people.
But Russians have a very short attention span. When the smear campaign began, the sentiment turned on a dime.
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Ummmm, the article to which I posted a link pretty much spells all that out.
Your questions are worded with the implicit premise that Putin and/or his crew, whoever that might entail, had a motive to kill Litvinenko. Can you shed any light on what that motive might be? Thanks.
If Putin wanted to get rid of Litvinenko, he could have had the fuck murdered during a seemingly botched robbery, or while Litvinenko was molesting boys. Polonium poisoning is too tricky,odd and costly if all you wanted to do was eliminate someone. Find out who really benefited from Lits demise, and start from there.
My readings say that US oligrachs are using the world bank to get Ukranian resources at a discount, by using NATO protection as a carrot. That point makes sense to me as the US was the initiator of this fiasco aka Nouland. Why, is it so hard for us US'ers to believe our bankers and some leaders are caught up in a proclivity of world domination and buying at bottom prices and owning all that is available. AN example is the failure to release info on why the US won't return the German's gold stored in US vaults is typical. Nothing is better than explanation which leads to lies and paying the price. Another example is in Max Keisers latest episode calling for explanation of a government report on fracking, that is redacted in paragraphs and pages to hide the truth of what is going on. We are being victums of a propaganda machine financed by the corporate and Oligrachic power of media influence to ease/hide their agendas which are opposed to the public good.
Yuriy Prodan? PRODAN!? Is he for real, or using a fake/stage name?
PRODAN means "SOLD"
And Kolomoiski first name is IHOR, LOL
At least the Ukies don't hide what they are.
This is one of VERY FEW thorough analyses in the Western financial community Webportals about unbiased situation in Ukraine. So my genuine respect for that. I can only add that Ukraine has also been the 5th largest global wheat exporter, and due to hryvna devaluation, lack of diesel fuel nurmally consumed by the agricultural techniques but this time around seeped away by the tanks and other armed vehicles, Ukraine would be deprived of its 15% of hard currency budget revenue, while global wheat prices will go up.
Plus you can expect some level of famine / food shortage in Ukraine as they fail to supply enough to meet domestic needs and import prices rise. Not to mention the significant problems winter will bring due to reduced energy stocks and higher transport costs.
Much of this destruction is due to the fact that a key reason for the rejection of Russia and attachment to the EU is that once Ukraine joins the EU the populace can migrate west to seek paid employment and leave the rubble behind them.
Second reason is the IMF mandated Ukraine put down the rebel revolt in order to secure financing. Doesn't matter to the IMF what damage is done to the country.
What does not make sense is the degree to which the EU is playing USSA lapdog. NSA must have collected some powerful dirt.
Truth be told, I would say that the poor economic foresight of the nation allowed for it to be hijacked. That is, Ukraine's problems did not start with Yanukovitch being Yanukovitch'd. They began earlier and the USA/EU simply exploited the opennings and funded Nazi stooges to make regime change happen.
Correct... You have just elaborated US foreign policy for the last 70 years...
I made the very same observation weeks ago, that the US Regime and its EU/Kiev puppets are deliberately destroying the E. Ukraine infrastructure, with the intent of having a Scorched Earth policy displace the inhabitants and create an excessive humanitarian crisis for Russia, which weakens them economically and weaken Putin politically.
The Kiev junta and their Oligarchs then get to take over the land and resources with their own people: Zionism North, in Ukraine.
Your paycheck has been shrinking for 5 years - Capitol Report - MarketWatch
...but there's no inflation.
except in the lies spewed by governments.
Just got my fourth raise in 2 years yesterday. Shrinking, really???
That's because you're special.
Or you are lying.
I got a 75% bump on a job switch last year so it is possible.
So you finally earn 15 bucks a day?
At 5 cents per post, it add up, you know.
Don't hate the player fellas.
You must be a statistician, they make all the money.
Just got my fourth raise in 2 years yesterday. Shrinking, really???
The extra 5 cents per week does not help pay the bills Magnix!
Since my 3 top years in 2007-2009 my income has steadily declined to where I'm earning 30-35% less than my peak years - despite working more hours.
Were it not for steadily raising my rental rates my CSI (combined source income) would be even lower, prolly around 40%.
I'm at the Honda dealership ATM dreading their verdict on my venerable Element, becoming progressively more ill from the insipid drivel dripping like electronic gonorrhea from the waiting room idiot box.
On my first read I thought you were saying your car got the clap. :)
That's what you get for being America's bitch. What happened to the $5 billion that the US spent destabilizing it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpkATS6mjbc
That's what you get for lovin' me
That's what you get for lovin' me
Ev'ry thing you had is gone
As you can see
That's what you get for lovin' me
I ain't the kind to hang around
With any new love that I found
'Cause movin' is my stock in trade
I'm movin' on
I won't think of you when I'm gone.
What happened to the $5 billion that the US spent destabilizing it?
Oh thats gone long gone. Obombya will eat Yellins puss puss though and get a quick payday loan soon.
and Merle Haggard can thank Gordon Lightfoot for that one...
Obama doesn't want you to use coal, so it's for your own good.
"Key industry sources say they will potentially run out of coal in less than three weeks." But Al Gorge and Steyer assure me that this is a good thing for the planet.
It's ok - the euros and the U.S. are drowning in cash, so U-Crane will have all the rebuild money they need.
"soldiers transferred to Trans-Carpathia to put an end to seperatist desires there." "1,200 soldiers are being sent today."
This news just came across on a very reliable Canadian Twitter Feed. It caught my attention because just two days ago the same Twitter account linked a video speech given by Russian Speaking and Hungarian Speaking representitives of the local government there. In the dual language speech. it was made clear that this Trans-Carpathian region of Ukraine would no longer send it's young men to Kiev's military draft call up. Mentioning that 100 local boys are already listed as killed in combat, with Kiev demanding 80,000 local young men report for the war!
They went on to declare Kiev a fascist state with no right to rule, and that as of two days ago, Trans-Carpathia will NOT accept dictates or secret police attacks from Kiev.
In the 10 minute speech, The Russian and Hungarin ethincs vowed that they had lived in peace for 1,000 years and would unite together to fight the Kiev Fascist EU coup government.
Anyone expecting Ukraine to settle down, is not following events! Now Kiev has reacted sending armed Army units to attack the people in Trans-Carpathia. A second front is now opened!
The USA and EU will condem the people of Trans-Carpathia as terrorists and aid Kiev in killing them. My thought's on this. Is fuck the EU and Fuck Obama and his Washington DC Neocon murder gangs.
Good catch Jack, and on the South-Western flank of Ukraine:
http://www.threedonia.com/archives/2114
+1000
Seriously? You quote a 2009 article that acknowldges that Ruthenians exist? Ruthenians / Rusyns are well assimulated and have zero interest these days in their own state. Another example of crazy pro-Russian B.S. on ZH!
Don't you have a bridge to hide under? Did the Ukie army blow up your home?
The Ruthenians want their own state, because their language is distinct and the Ukie economy is literally imploding.
They know full well that their small state would not be viable. My Rusyn relatives are happy in Slovakia, thank-you very much. I saw no evidence of any interest in sepatration when I was recently in Uzhhorrod. Go ahead, keep on making up stuff.
Here you go, fuckhead:
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/08/05/transcarpathian-gambut....
Is two weeks ago recent enough?
Their small state would be much more viable trading with local neighbors than subject to one of the 10 worst performing economies in the world, or having their sons sent to die in battles to make USSA controlled Oligarchs richer.
I'll bet YOU won't be sending your children to die in novorossiya, so why should they?
????? ?? ?? ???, ?? ????? ?? ?? ?????!
translation: go f urself you are not a Ruthenian!
more like a braindead uki who has a Bandera relative in uzhorrod!
Slava Rusi,
Sashko
Is criticizing the US policy on the Ukraine pro-Russian? Is criticizing the Ukrainian 'government' pro-Russian? Is criticizing NATO expansion pro-Russian? Is it crazy to hold an opinion that differs from yours? Who did you say is crazy?
Of course it's not crazy to dissent, to disagree.
I love America, just not my government.
"You are with us or against us."
"Only a Sith (and apparently camels!) deal in absolutes." -- Obi Wan-Kenobi
So in five years an article has no relevance, despite hundereds of years of history?
Perhaps some Ruthenians desire a Transcarpathian state or at least an autonomous region not allied with the neo-Nazi putsch of Kiev Ukraine?
Your family account is valid as far as it goes, but is otherwise anecdotal compared to the history of the region and the Ruthenians other than your relations.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514207/Ruthenian
Mecedes is just talking his book, or in other words, shit.
Check out the Ruthenian national flag and anthem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqyYKOAdoMs
It is a region about 1 million people 200 thousand of them are Hungarians!
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Funny, because practically the entire Ukrainian military has been tied up with the fighting in Donbass.
Sounds like the Kiev Junta is Yatsenfucked.
Actually, Ukrain's main armed pack is located on the North-West border. That's where all the Blackwater/Academi mercs are hiding out, crossing in and out at their own convenience. Crushing resistance in the West is a high priority task as it helps preserve the illusion of possible integration of the Ukraine into the NATO bloc. Can't have any Ukraininans crossing into other countries either.
The thing is... despite the Western willingness to support Nazi's in Kiev, they make no mistake recognizing who those people are. They want'em quarantined inside the country like they're carrying Ebola. Chaos in Ukraine is fine, as long as it doesn't spill outside.
Shit, isn't Vigo a Carpatian.......
LOL - Yea Vigo the Carpathian
Trans-Carpathia (historically part of Hungary and Slovakia) has a potential to become another flashpoint for the Kiev Junta. It is inhabited mostly by Ruthenians, Hungarians, Romanians and Gypsies. Ukrainian authorities (preceding the Junta) always classified Ruthenians as ethnic Ukrainians which they are not. If there is an uprising in Trans-Carpathia, similar to the one in Donbas/Novorossiya, it has a potential to get NATO members Slovakia and Romania militarily involved to protect ethnic Hungarians and Romanians there. Also, there are at least 200,000 Poles living in Western Ukraine which has a potential to get another NATO member country militarily involved (this time officially) if there is a violence against them.
Come on in, the clusterfscking is great! (Can things truly get any more FUBAR?)
yet another example of how Vladdy-Poot doesn't need to invade Eastern Ukraine - he's got plenty of other, more efffective levers.
Vlad does not need or want the Ukraine. Unless you have visited there, you cannot appreciate what a shit hole it really was, BEFORE the putsch and war with novorossiya.
Crimea was the only part that Russia needed, home to their only warm water mainland military port and having trillions of dollars in offshore oil and gas reserves. Crimea is also very beautiful, especially on the south coast.
This is why the USSA is so hopping mad, because they wanted to develop the offshore crimean resources and then re sell the gas via the Ukie pipelines, booting Russian gas. The USSA is angry because Putin beat them to the punch and removed Crimea from under their nose.
Were Russia to occupy the Ukraine, their economic progress would be set back decades. Better for the EU to get stuck with the bill.
Its a turd sandwich that nobody really wants.
I still think the flashpoint is next month with NATO 'excersies' planned in Ukraine.
Looks like kiev might not last that long.
Heres hoping they turn on each other in a night of the long knives.
In a few months, the Ukraine will be a very cold turd sandwich, that will stick to the hands of anyone dumb enough to pick it up. Without coal and Nat Gas, they are doomed.
BTW, I doubt that NATO will attack Russia in their backyard, unless they want to destroy the entire planet. Russia cannot be beaten by air or naval power, and their army can easily handle the NATO land forces in Europe. Once the sons and daughters of europeans go back home in body bags, even the dumbed down eurowimps will revolt against the USSA controlled elites.
Very true. The only thing Russia needs the Ukraine for is a buffer against the US.
If Viktor Orban has any sense (Hungarian Prime Minister) - he will send in Hungarian troops to Trans-Carpathia to protect the Hungarian minority.
If Ukraine dares to attack Hungary, that is an attack on NATO as a whole.
NATO will be forced to carpet-bomb Kiev.
Article 5 bitchez. Article 5.
Yup. Then they'll need money from Brussels and the EU Bandits.
Then they will get loans and have austerity and bail-ins imposed.
Out of the frying pan - into the fire.
This looks like a job for: WORLD POLICE-PERSON !
WORLD POLICE-PERSON: Quick, to the drone controls WORLD-ECONOMIST, there is evil afoot in the Ukraine and ONLY WORLD POLICE-PERSON can make it right.
WORLD ECONOMIST: And after you make it right WORLD POLICE-PERSON, I will give them loans so that we can have perpetually increasing growth and attain "Keynesian" escape velocity!
WORLD POLICE-PERSON: There's not a moment to lose WORLD ECONOMIST! The survival of the free world is at stake!
Cue: WORLD POLICE-PERSON theme music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D0ZQPqeJkk
Sounds like a job for: US'ens!
I'm getting tired of trying to figure out what all the world's insane people will do next.
I wonder, who would be the happiest,those who know what is going on or those knowing nothing.
Oh come on. Ignorance truely is bliss.
The pathologically patriotic and pathologicially optimistic are the happiest people on the planet.
That's why America is the greatest country in the world.
I read a Ukrainian Twitter post that 20 miles outside Kiev, power is being shut down for a part of everyday to save energy for the coming winter. Notice this is Outside Kiev, home to Washington DC's coup junta government. If in August power must be cut, can you imagine this coming January!
Also out of Kiev today. The Junta Leaders in Kiev, [and I am not joking, these guys are NATO stooges in every sense], The leaders of Kiev have asked the Right Sector Political Party to join the Secret Police of the new revolutionary Ukraine to bolster the fight for freedom. If you do not know who Right Sector is, use google and find out. I will only point out they range from Fascists to openly Nazi and racist ethnic West Ukrainians who proclaim themselves as a superior race of people to all other Ethnics inside Ukraine. Especially Ethnic Russian, Jews and ethnic Hungarians of the far west of the country.
In case you get your news from the main stream media today, all the reports of retreating rebels and victorious Ukrainian Army units is just so much crap. These news stories all over media are designed to hide another set of disasters for Kiev's assualt troops. Over the last 48 hours, some terrible defeats have been inflicted on Kiev's Junta Army. It's not clear yet, but the rebels, for the first time, launched major offensives against Kiev's battlions. One defeat involved the 30th Brigade, the families of which have been attacking Kiev military offices demanding to know what happened to their sons and family members. In Karkov a train with freezer cars holding dead bodies of Ukie troops is sitting on a siding, Kiev does not know what to do with it.
Kiev is making Ukraine into earth's greatest hell hole. And Victoria Nuland is nowhere to be found. That bitch has unleashed death on 10,000 Ukrainians with more every day.
The Novorossiyans and russians are using a rather clever military strategy against the Ukie army. They deliberately gave up most territory and concentrated near the borders, where re supply is miuch easier. Every time the Ukie army tries to encircle them and cut off access to the Russian border, they are getting destroyed, trapped between the Novorossiya militia and russian border.
Their USSA advisors are used to pounding on lightly armed irregular militants, or using total air superiority to hammer much weaker militaries. They are good at terror, destroying cities and psychological warfare, but are much weaker in fighting land battles without good air support.
For a while, the USSA advisors were flying secret jet missions out of neighboring countries but after a few s300 hits, they got the message.
Indeed. That border acts as a blocking army would to make trapping Ukie units very easy as long as fighting is near the border. And the Ukie Army is desperate to capture all the border crossings so they keep walking into traps. It is brilliant military tactics. To never get caught in large numbers trying to defend a line or single position, but to allow the Ukie Army forward and then attack it's flanks. The rebels, by all means, must avoid being trapped where Kiev's mass of artillery can catch them and destroy them. Rebels are fighting a fluid battle and Kiev's army is trying to bulldoze their way around. It is still up in the air, but some major Ukie defeats may have happened that last 24 hours. It is hard to get information because the battles have been intense in the exteme.
Cossack Wolves.
After oBUMMER's current U.S. military purge, our "guys" will be as ineffective as nuland's ukraine boys.
And that is exactly why Obama will continue his military purge.
Our guys are smart and brave, but are not trained for fighting this type of war. Europe hasn't seen anything like it since WW2. Even the 1999 Serb war does not compare.
Latina Lover I re-framed your comment for the future:
An American, not US subject.
I don't normally recommend video interviews of more than a few minutes length, as they are more time-consuming than text, but this [ 15:35 ] video interview, with English captioning just added by The Saker's Russian team, is an excellent "view from 30,000 feet" :
Interview with Sergei Glaziev (MUST SEE!)
Thanks to the superb work of the Russian Team, it is my huge pleasure to present you with one of the most interesting interviews about the war in the Ukraine and the global struggle for the future of the planet and the views of one of the best informed men in Russia: Sergei Glaziev.
Glaziev is an advisor to President Putin and a close friend...over the years I have found that Glaziev seems to say out loud what Putin does not, but seems to be acting on.
Glaziev, who was born in the Ukraine and who is an economist himself, has a superb understanding of the behind-the-scenes power plays in the Ukraine and in Russia. This man really *knows* what is going on...
But, but it;s more than 140 characters....
/s for numbnuts
Thanks for the link
edit youtube direct : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cikvqdMRTTA
;-)
But in the event my point wasn't clear: I'm annoyed in general by the increasing use of videos for material that is nothing more than people talking to each other, and I always attempt to find a text transcript.
If you figure a reasonable average reading/skimming speed of 600 wpm and an average speaking speed of 125 wmp, then a 15-minute video interview could be read in about 3 minutes.
P.S. Though long-term maybe a direct YouTube link is better in addition to being a second or two faster, I linked to Saker's site rather than YouTube as I felt he deserved the hit.
Point well taken,
I just was saving click's
But http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.nl/ (damn it's nl) could use some reading, but then again so could http://ex-skf.blogspot.nl/
LOL
That link for me results in:
Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist.
There are French, German, Russian, and Oceanic (just announced a few minutes ago) versions created by independent teams — i.e. not just mirrors, but independent sites that mirror most or all of the main site (posted from Florida), and include unique posts as well.
The original and main site (English) is at:
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/
An absolutely outstanding video, I don't know how I missed this because I usually follow Glaziev's work.
Without getting into details, I have personal knowledge of certain biotechnology breakthroughs made by russian professors that will revolutionize healthcare. Researchers today in Russia have far more latitude to explore new ideas and alternatives and so can create innovations that would never occur in the USSA due to blocking by vested interests.
That material at the beginning reminded me of what a paradise this planet could become if the western psychos can be defeated and a multipolar world energized in place of the dying US empire.
Russia's task, it seems, is to manage the unravelling of the empire so that in its death throes it doesn't destroy the planet.
It is a long standing goal of the USSA to destroy Russia. With Russia under their thumb, the globalists could break China and would control the entire world.
Napoleon and Hitler also had the same vision, but notice how well that worked out for them.
Thanks for that Chiang Mai (how I love that place!).
That Saker video is definitely recommended. 15mins.
that guy was on the sanctions list so you know what he's saying is both true and carries weight in Kremlin circles
As for the anti-Kiev forces, this is what Kiev and the oligarchs can expect if the seperatists have their way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ouiHd48RvJo
I wouldn't want to face this gentleman in battle if I were on Kiev's side.....
So you are Hungarian or Italian or maybe from Rumania? He is not very imposing, more like a poser... Typical drunken russian poser.
Coming from a keyboard warrior like yourself, it is easy to insult. I wonder if you would be as brave saying it to his face.
He obviously has no experience of what he speaks.
Breaking news from today.
"Dramatic Footage: Shelling of Donetsk Apartment Building"
http://thenewsdoctors.com/?p=199064
But, but, but...Every golden calf worshiping fund manager that CNBC interviews to explain the rally, describe it as: "Tensions easing around the world set stocks on high". What fawking world are they referring??
Israel and Gaza intensify in heavy exchange (12:30 pm est)
Ukraine and Russian Sep - Battles rage as 43 Ukraine troops killed TODAY (11:00 am est)
Iraq - Isis says they still control damn, kill 70 in nearby village (10:00 am est)
Missouri - Another shooting as crowds grow larger (1:30 pm est)
BWAHAHAHA RALLY ON!!
It beggars belief that Washington/Westminster/Paris and Brussels support and fund the fascist Poroshenko government in Kiev who are turning East Ukraine, including homes, into a heap of rubble, shell by shell, bomb by bomb.
Agreed, but I can't uptick your comment due to italics.
one of the reasons poroshenko held up the relief trucks at the border was to make sure that kiev's relief got to donbas first. a pr ploy that reeks of nuland.
the next travesty will be the Dutch report on the downed plane. Who knows whether or not it will be truthful? Or whether the Dutch are so beholden to the US that they will leave the results of the report in doubt, which will condemn putin?
Finally, we'll have to endure kiev's decision whether it will release the ATC conversation with MH17. Obviously if it is too damning, it won't be released. But that will make kiev look guilty, so the thing to do is use that part of the tape where the malaysian pilot is talking and alter the dialogue of the air traffic controller.
How do you do that, you ask?
That's the real reason why Obama sent "Pentagon" officials to kiev.
"Obama orders Pentagon advisers to Ukraine to fend off Putin-backed rebelsU.S. to help Kiev bolster military as pressure mounts on Vladimir Putin"
By Maggie Ybarra - The Washington Times - Tuesday, July 22, 2014
We don't know who these "pentagon" guys are or even if they're in the pentagon or whether they're sound engineers.
As i have said before, when the dust settles in Donbas, obama will push poroshenko to bring Crimea back into Ukraine and all hell will break lose. if this happens this winter and NATO and the EU back poroshenko, the gas will certainly be turned off.
Working against obama, poroshenko and the EU is Putin's embargo of food from the EU. Let's hope they bite.
I have little confidence that the Dutch MH-17 report will contain the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. "Whitewash" would probably be the best description. It's even possible the 30mm bullet holes in the fuselage from cannon fire will not be mentioned or will be explained away. The political costs of telling the truth are too high for Poroshenko's western backers. The Dutch PM and UK Cameron were both vociferously anti-Putin in the period after the incident, so they would find a u-turn very difficult. And the report will be subject to heavy influence by Westminster and Washington.
One review of what's happened to the UK Chilcot Inquiry in to how Britain went to war in Iraq - begun in Jul-2009 - still has not been published due to some persons arguing over its findings, notably Tony Blair. All this despite many pieces of evidence having been refused to the Inquiry in the first place and Chilcot chosen to run it because he's a solid Establishment muppet.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100270109/the-time-has-come-...
I can't argue with your comments, but let me be 'devil's advocate'.
1) You err to lump Cameron and Rutte/Timmermans in the same category.
Cameron has been fagging for Obama since he's been in in office (as England has fagged for the US for 100 years). Cameron has been ingratiating himself to Washington by confining Assange to the Equadorian Embassy for the last two years.
After Aruba arrested a high ranking Venezuelan at the request of the US, the Netherlands ordered Aruba to release him and send him home.
193 Dutch nationals died aborad MH17. We know Bush could lie about the deaths of Americans, but I think we have to wait to see what Rutte says.
Also after the immediate shock of the attack wore off, we learned that Putin's plane was near the Malaysian plane and their markings were strikingly similar, especially to a Ukrainian pilot schooled in the Cyrillic script.
The bottom line is that many of the nation members of the EU/NATO who lost their shirts in the sub-prime housing bubble buying American created MBS, and then watched America print their way out of the ponzi scheme they had created, are now watching the sanctions against Russia, which Washington is requiring from it allies hurt their economies, while the US gets off scott free, while Washington fines allied banks 10's of billions.
We shall soon see what happens, but something worse will probably come along and make this insignificant.
Today
I have a feeling Putin & Russia are waiting for this MH17 Report to decide whether its worth intervening militarily in Donbass.
Its a bit of a watershed moment really. Will it be an honest report? Or will it be a snowjob that tries to paint Putin/Russia further into a corner.
I have read somewhere that the Report isn't even going to assign blame! What?
So if it is 'fairly honest' (I use the term loosely obviously), and mentions cannon fire into the cockpit, how could it not draw a conclusion. Ie, shot at by a fighter jet!
If it tries to blame Putin/ Russia, get set for new Russian sanctions. I wouldn't be surprised if Russia turns off the gas to Poland. Seems a logical step to me.
I would be surprised if Russian troops are not in the Donbass by mid November. The only thing that might prevent this is if the Kiev Junta forces are already driven out by then.
As for this comment.
I have little confidence that the Dutch MH-17 report will contain the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
You (All of us 'little people') obviously CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH NO CAN WE??????
Oh - the other thing is - the reason Russia are keenly awaiting this Preliminary Report is they MUST, they absolutely MUST, have a copy of the Black Box recordings - including the recordings of the Cockpit Voice Recorder.
It was reported the Black Boxes initially went to Moscow before they returned to Donetsk and were handed over.
One must assume this is true and that a copy was made of the recordings.
They will presumably, release this recording the minute any recording is released by the Dutch team. Literally - within 1 minute.
And hand a copy to the Malaysians/ Chinese etc. of course.
If they don't have a recording, I really have to question the intelligence of the Russians in failing to make a recording and handing it over so willingly.
If Putin was considering intervening in Dombass, why wait until MH17 was shot down? Why not intervene in March?
The $64 trillion question. We assume that Putin knows the answer but it will be rejected by whomever is implicated.
That would be the diplomatic way. The West wants to blame this on Russia/Rebels and I assume there is a great deal of internal pressure on the EU states to go along with Washington's plans. The report will have to mention the delay in Kiev's release of the ATC recording and will have to mention if the fuselage was hit by cannon fire. My belief is that the report is being delayed to give Kiev/Washington time to make a second tape and/or construct a plausible denial of the facts.
Also the most debilitating of Western sanctions thus far, if the Chinese are not bankrolling Russia ( I think they are). These could cause extreme hardship for Russian life.
You may be right, but I don't see why Putin would have waited until September to defend Donbas. He is playing by the rules or at least by the same rules as did the US in Iraq, Syria, Libya. The countries of NATO know this but can only say "your sanctions have made things worse.' Except for UK and Canada who are in the thrall of American foreign policy.
There is no way we can know whether or not Russia obtained the 'black boxes" and copied them. I would like think they did, but doesn't that mean they'd have to break the seal on the BBs to copy the recording? And if the seal were broken would the Kievans have grounds to question whether they'd been tampered with?
Obviously Russia is a major trading partner with EU, importing products that can not be taken up by NATO/ EU.
The American drum beat to containment and confrontation of Russia clearly is not popular in Europe. The most effective way to end America's belligerence and threat to peace
is for the peace loving nations of Europe to withdraw from NATO and leave the alliance in the hands of the US/UK and the recently joined poor nations of the East.
I hope the Ukrainians, largely innocent in this game, all have large gardens, food preservation skills and alterative energy. Otherwise, this winter could be rough.
Don't forget "The Convoy" !
Images for convoy
Latest from Russia at the UN. Expect to see more announcments from the UN rather than Moscow.
NEW YORK, August 19 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow expects the delivery of its humanitarian aid to resume in the next few hours but is still waiting for Kiev’s security guarantees for the convoy, Russia’s UN envoy said Tuesday.
“We expect that no one will hinder attempts to resume the delivery of Russian humanitarian aid and that the campaign will restart in the coming hours,” Vitaly Churkin told the UN Security Council meeting.
He added that “the pressing need for the Ukrainian side’s urgent security guarantees for humanitarian personnel still persists.”
All technical questions of delivery of Russian humanitarian aid were settled at the recent meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Germany, Ukraine and France in Berlin, Churkin said.
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140819/192156179/Russia-Expects-Humanitarian-De...
This too
http://rt.com/news/181300-mh17-flight-record-public/
“We have agreed that he would vent this issue among others,” Churkin said. “How are the Ukrainians playing their part in the international investigation? What comes to mind: they must provide the records of communications of their air traffic controllers so that we could understand why they directed the Malaysian plane into the conflict zone.”
It took the CIA a month and a half to come up with a phony story about what the evidence at the crash site shows. And to counterfeit a second tape of the Ukrainian ATC talking to MH17.One of the problems with making deals with Kiev that seems little discussed is - THERE ARE COMPETING FACTIONS IN KIEV COMPETING FOR POWER & INFLUENCE.
This means that any agreement with Kiev (or Poroshenko) is not worth the paper its written on because Yats, or Parubiy or whoever will come along and sabotage it in their own interests.
If they can discredit Poroshenko, they stand to gain!
The power games in Kiev will continue until there's a new coup, and god knows what happens then.
Things will really heat up when trouble erupts in TransCarpathia.
Viktor Orban could just be the guy who provides a solution to this whole level of madness.
The average Ukie doesn't have a clue, and believes in killing their 'terrorist' brethen. They will like the war less once their gas is cut off and their boys come home in body bags.
At least Europe will have a place to ship excess food resulting from Russian sanctions.
They will never get another chance to rid themselves of russians...
Yah, better the yoke of the USSA controlled Oligarchs, LOL.
Besides, what makes you think the Russians want the Ukraine? If the Ukies had declared themselves neutral, and didn't threaten Russia, do you think they might still have Crimea and the semblance of an economy?
What the Kiev clique has achieved is to replace Putin's Czar in Ukraine by Nuland's Czar.
One Czar for another and we empty the Ukraine jar of abundance.
Its called Manifest Destiny... its a game that began in 1953 with Iran and Guatemala...the victims then were Mossadegh and Arbenz...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobo_Árbenz_Guzmán
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Mossadegh
When the Dulles Brothers, in the age of rampant McCarthyism, changed the face of third world under the US hegemony gun of Pax Americana and in the wake of BW financial control age.
Rinse and repeat !
Cold war is one hellva bitch with a gigantic itch.
The disaster is the kleptocratic "government". Everything else is just detail.
NATO-Member Turkey Threatens Western-Owned Banks, Shifts East, Cozies up to Russia
http://wolfstreet.com/2014/08/15/nato-member-turkey-threatens-western-ow...
I wonder if Obama realises this from the article:
"All of which goes to show just how effective U.S. foreign policy can be at bringing other nations together – albeit in mutual opposition to the U.S."
You can have the whole lot of them, they are useless as anything from trading partners to allies. Long back knives...
About time.
Sometime in the next month or two Erdogan needs to stiffen his resolve and withdraw Turkey from NATO.
Turkey was neutral in World War 2, and should return to this neutrality ASAP.
A Turkish withdrawal from NATO, followed up soon after by a declaration of neutrality and then a closing of the Black Sea to all warships of non-Black Sea States (ie. United States) is probably the biggest thing any single country can do to prevent any outbreak of hostilities cascading into a World War 3 type scenario.
Erdogan really could shape history for the better.
I personally hope he makes this decision at the conclusion of the NATO War Summit in Wales in a few weeks time.
Or perhaps a week later on September 11, 2014.
Either way, the timing would be exquisite and show the way for other wavering NATO members that can see the organisation has lost its way and become nothing but a tool of American Imperialism (I'm looking at you Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, France, Germany)
From Anna News via The Vineyard of the saker blog
Comentary from the Saker on the news feed:
"So the Ukies have deliberately done in Lugansk what they have already done in Slaviansk just before the assault: they destroyed the city's water supply. In the meantime, other Ukie forces have used MLRS systems to bomb and destroy a column of refugees fleeing from the combat area...
...Now they have destroyed the main water supply station in Lugansk. Again, this is not a mistake. Just like the numerous artillery strikes against local hospitals, including cancer-treatment facilities, the destruction of the civilian infrastructure is logical "if we can't have it - neither will you" is how Uncle Sam and his death squads have always operated. This is why the Ukies have now begun bombing the coal mines.
No worries...EU is eager to tax its citizens and put in the pockets fo Ukranian Oligarchs
Not a disaster for obese dual-citizen lard bucket oligarchs like Kolomoisky. They'll be swooping in to buy hard assets for kopecks on the hrivna; or, more likely for nothing.
Nor will it be a disaster for parasites like Vulture Biden, PR specialists and (ex)IMF directors like serial rapist Strauss Kahn, the army of crypto-fascist neo-con/neo-liberal shitheads in the State Department, and the swarm of institutionally diseased minds at Brookings, Stanford, NED, PNAC, RAND, et. al.; they'll be just fine.
The average Sergei and Svetlana are screwed.
Not a disaster for obese dual-citizen lard bucket oligarchs like Kolomoisky. They'll be swooping in to buy hard assets for kopecks on the hrivna; or, more likely for nothing.
Nor will it be disaster for parasites like Vulture Biden, PR specialists and (ex)IMF directors like serial rapist Strauss Kahn, the army of crypto-fascist neo-con/neo-liberal shitheads in the State Department, and the swarm of institutionally diseased minds at Brookings, Stanford, NED, PNAC, RAND, et. al.; they'll be just fine.
The average Sergei and Svetlana are screwed.
Not a disaster for obese dual-citizen lard bucket oligarchs like Kolomoisky. They'll be swooping in to buy hard assets for kopecks on the hrivna; or, more likely for nothing.
Nor will it be disaster for parasites like Vulture Biden, PR specialists and (ex)IMF directors like serial rapist Strauss Kahn, the army of crypto-fascist neo-con/neo-liberal shitheads in the State Department, and the swarm of institutionally diseased minds at Brookings, Stanford, NED, PNAC, RAND, et. al.; they'll be just fine.
The average Sergei and Svetlana are screwed.
Its Ok the US sponsored Neo-nazis incompetently running the Ukraine have a solution, blame Russia!
The Ukrainian prime-minister Yatsenyuk just announced that he would privatize amost all state plants and factories.
The general plan is to destroy all industries and sell them for pennies. The same thing happened with Yukos, which was sold for $350 million when the real price is hundreds of billions.
It's a good deal if you are the oligarch (or the IMF) that gets to buy those privatized companies...
An even better deal when you can threated anyone else who dares to bid on these assets as has happened before.
These olgarch death squads have killed many so a few more won't be any concern to them regardless of nationality.
The globalists attacked us here pretty heavy too. They've shut down nearly every coal powered electricity plant in the US. The enemy has been located in Washington D.C. but as of late the orders seem to be coming out of Belguim. How many of us they intend to kill we don't know but they've stockpiled 2 billion hollow points--6 bullets for every man, woman and child.
Never waste the opportunity to create a crisis to exploit.
Greater Israel Uber Alles!
An American, not US subject.
"Government, being a criminal syndicate of theft and murder can only produce four things: Poverty, misery, death and lies. Any evidence otherwise is temporary and an illusion."
What about the 4 nuclear power stations, with 15 nuclear reactors operating in Ukraine (Khmelnitsky, Rovno, South Ukraine and Zaporozhe)?
In the case of big power grid disruptions, will they continue working, or there is a risk of stop with no power, and consequent meltdown?
I wonder where they will get their Uranium from, given that Russian and Kazakstan are the worlds largest suppliers.
That is not likely to be an issue but aren't those reactors of the same design as Chernobyl? Not that GE's designs are any better...
I am switching to coal this year to heat my home from wood. With the rice coal you can set it and for get it for 3 days before having to refill. it will cost about 600 a year to heat my home here in NY.
destroys critical infrastructure in the east and brings key industry to a halt,
nobody thought of this, right? morons
ask barry
Too busy playing Italian style golf with Reggie ( putter in the hole, balls outside)
A interesting interview with Sergie Glaziev (a top advisor to President Putin) has just gone up on
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.ca/
The Russian government perspective on the Ukraine, EU, globalization etc. It has English subtitles.
Time for Joe Bidens son to step up to the plate!
Difficult to get there from the dugout with a hole through your foot. Hunttard, son of Joe lol
Biden''''''''s,,,,,,,vaWaVPotusa
And BTW fu VWANDY LMFAO
This economic issue is exactly WHY the US and Ukrainie are pushing Russia so hard - and exatly WHY Putin is doing nothing to give the US an excuse to intervene. If all this fighting does not finish the economy, then a week with natty gas flowing through the pipelines will do the job once the weather gets chillier.
Watch the skies Ukies (and CIA) -
For Kiev, the month of September is characterized by rapidly falling daily high temperatures, with daily highs decreasing from 72°F to 63°F over the course of the month.
Ukraine, a breakaway. A country barely alive.
Central Bankstermen, we can rebuild it. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic country. Ukraine will be that country. Better than it was before. Better... stronger... faster.
The 6 Trillion Dollar Country
Howver bankrupt Ukraine may be, it will apparently be guaranteed $billions of US/IMF
loans as well as military aid from the likes of Canada to wage civil war against the
Eastern Ukraine provinces.
The IMF has already approved up to $17 billion.
"IMF''s comment that Ukraine has to retain its territorial integrity led to Ukraine diverting its first tranch into a de facto war with two of its own provinces. According to Yatseniuk''s own admission, close to 800 million would be needed just to fund the war again. Not only is the IMF not supposed to loan to a country at war (which is why Kiev calls it an ANTI TERRORIST OP), the existing funds were transferred into non-governmental accounts associated with oligarchs that partially control the war effort."
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2014/NEW043014A.htm
While Putin BLEEDS necessary income , spits on desperately-needed foreign investment, and tells his people to return to eating just red beets and potatoes while accepting the fact that the entire world around them gets on "as usual" without the nationalist head-case Russia has recently become, Strobe Talbott, who obviously has his head up his ass, since he knows NOTHING about Russia, it's foreign policy, let alone special agents of Russian intelligence claims:...
"Russia has the largest territorial state on the planet, sharing a long border with the most populous state on the planet, China. Russia has a lot of what China wants -- raw materials..." "Putin... ought to be much more concerned about the viability of Russian control over vast areas of eastern part of the country with lots of resources China wants and few people to defend them...."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-gardels/strobe-talbott-russia-ukrai...
So... as China's greatest debtor, the US has basically signed on to helping China carve up Russia, take it's own helping, in terms of Siberia, a nice slice of the Arctic Circle, and sharing a view back and forth with Sarah Palin.
It's going to be a hell of a war... between China and Russia... ya know, there are a lot of "chinese-speaking nationals" in eastern Russia who may need "protection" soon.
And Putin didn't even see it coming...
Keep stacking that firewood for the winter, Ukie, you are going to need it.
When America spends $100 billion on a war, China spends the same amount on investments, roads, infrastructure in Africa and Latin America.