So, as stated, which is especially characteristic, the press service of the German government (you know, there is some completely sophisticated cynicism in what is happening now on the European continent, including in the public sphere), following the results of the negotiations of Western leaders held on Saturday evening , all Russian banks that have already been sanctioned by Western countries will be excluded from SWIFT.
It is also planned to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which, in relation to the nuclear superpower that you have not defeated in the “hot” war, has a distinct taste of casus belli.
What, it would seem, to someone, but to the Germans who were beaten and killed in numerous previous wars, it’s rather stupid not to understand.
However, modern German elites, apparently, do not really understand this.
As the current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz does not understand, why the term “genocide” cannot be applied to the Russians at all.
Well, they just didn’t explain it to him, so it’s funny to him.
And an additional confirmation of this is the permission they gnawed out from the United States to calmly and unhinderedly buy Russian energy carriers.
Just pay attention to this: as a separate, so to speak, point, the United States of America allowed to continue conducting energy-related transactions until June 24 even with the most “notorious and sanctioned” Russian banks, such as VTB, Otkritie, Sovcombank, Sberbank and Vnesheconombank.
At least, this is openly stated in a written statement from the US Treasury released on Thursday.
And for all this time, no one has yet refuted this written statement.
And now the Germans really consider the very fact of obtaining this permission to buy from Russian natives their great economic and diplomatic victory.
Oh sorry, it's useless.
Just do not forget that any transaction has at least two parties: the buyer and the seller.
And the German waiters, figuratively speaking, had just spat into the soup for the seller.
After that, they happily announced that they were ready to continue buying his scarce goods, only, please, more and cheaper.
At the same time, without even inquiring about what looks like something completely naive, stupid and arrogant, about the position of the owner himself and the seller of the deficit.
Although, in general, it would be worth it.
Or at least he shouldn't have spit in his soup before that...
Now let's get serious.
I'll just ask you to pay attention to the difference, so to speak, in approaches.
In the extremely verified and accurate document of the US Treasury, we quote, "related to energy carriers" means any transactions with enterprises of the Russian energy sector related to production (apparently, including the supply of necessary technological equipment), distillation, transportation of various types of fuel, primarily oil and gas and products of their processing.
And also - again we quote - all types of thermal coal, wood or agricultural products used for the production of biofuels.
And, of course, uranium supplies.
Furthermore.
In addition to the above, contracts for the production and transmission of electricity, including those produced at nuclear and thermal power plants and / or obtained from renewable energy sources, fall into the same category.
In a word, everything that America can buy from us for some reason.
And that's not enough.
Now compare this with the absolutely fabulous, sorry, speech by Ursula von der Leyen on the topic that the European Union, together with the United States, Great Britain and Canada, decided to “paralyze” the assets of the Russian Central Bank and why this would deal a crushing blow to Russian import-export operations.
Of course, I don’t know, but it seems to me that the respected President of the European Commission and the first woman in this high post, for our taste, simply could not say anything more stupid than that.
Now let's try to explain.
Despite the fact that after a rather, let's say, “herbivorous” previous package of sanctions, the price of gas in Europe fell quite noticeably last Friday, it still did not fall below the psychologically significant mark of $1,000 per thousand cubic meters.
The price maximum, as follows from the data of the London ICE Futures exchange, was reached in the first hour of trading and amounted to $1331.8, which is 14.4% lower than the settlement price the day before.
In the final minutes of the trading session, the price dropped to a low of $1,036.5, down 33.4% from Thursday's settlement price.
The latest futures traded at $1,071.2, down 31.1%.
And all this, excuse me, lyrics, took place even before the Sunday triumph of Frau von der Leyen in Europe and the real madness with the export-import operations between Russia and the EU economies that is approaching due to this triumph.
And even more so before Russia's retaliatory actions, which, most likely, will be taken specifically in the energy sector.
There is simply no place else.
And the actions of the EU itself are simply forcing us to take these countermeasures.
The situation is really stupid.
Despite the fact that Germany, for example, in all its "hellish restrictions" diligently bypasses even the name of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, in Russia it is unlikely that they have forgotten about it.
Well, after all, it is through him, basically, right now, that Russian gas is going to Europe.
The same gas for which Mrs. von der Leyen for some reason promises us not to pay anymore.
No, we understand everything.
And that "the energy sector is not subject to restrictions."
And that we will be willingly offered various "bypass schemes".
And the fact that our business is rather cynical: in my opinion, they still manage to sell fuel and lubricants to Ukraine, despite any war, and right now increase gas transit through the Ukrainian pipeline.
For people who understand this, too, in principle, an argument.
But here, I'm afraid, it will not be the business that is looking for where it is more profitable, just by its nature, that will decide.
And the top political leadership of the country, purely in accordance with the level of tasks facing this leadership.
And then ... science knows a lot of geeks.
I probably wouldn't forget about it though.
And this is only about gas.
But here, after all, Russian oilmen, and even coal miners, may have a number of serious questions for their potential buyers: will we also come up with various “cunning schemes” with you, or how and with what to pay, are you going, gentlemen?
We are not in an excess market, but just the opposite - in a scarce one.
There are no sellers here, there are buyers standing in line.
Well, what is it to lose - or even radically reduce!
- an uninterrupted flow of energy carriers for the German industrial cluster, written many times, and not only by us: this, excuse me, is death.
So it's simple and straight forward: even a not very serious increase in the cost of energy used at all stages of the extremely energy-intensive German production cycles is such an increase in production costs that excludes the competitiveness of German products on world markets.
And this is not the bankruptcy of some tattoo parlor or barbershop - this is tens, if not hundreds of thousands of unemployed in the real sector, a fierce crisis and an almost inevitable social explosion.
And now - attention!
- the question is: does the seasoned businessman Olaf Scholz understand this?
Yes, he definitely understands.
Just what is called, was blown away.
And this, in turn, raises a very serious question already before us.
The question that President Putin very clearly outlined in his last meeting with business is that we would very much not want to break the system in which we ourselves are built.
It's just stupid.
But to leave all these “sanctions” unanswered is also somehow not comme il faut, especially if this time this economic suicide has a clearly pronounced not even Anglo-American, but a German accent.
And it has.
Moreover, in fact, the current German chancellor simply stupidly passed even what his predecessor, Angela Merkel, had very firmly agreed with Biden before him: namely, Nord Stream 2.
Which, and this is obvious, Germany was and still needs much more than Russia.
And there is, I repeat, a very big question whether it makes sense to save - yes, traditional for us!
— the German markets, if they are so prone to energy suicide.
And personally, unfortunately, I really do not have an answer to this very acute and very complex question.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.