Sanctions against Russia

[Bruce Tuncks]

While I personally don't think the situation in Ukraine will escalate, I was taken with the notion of western countries all confiscating the assets of anybody associated with a russian.

Apparently there are billions of dollars to be had. Russia is these days an authoritarian oligopoly ( rule by the rich ) or to some, a kleptocracy ( rule by the thieves)

AND the republicans will be divided, there are those who worship wealth and those who hate russia more than they like wealth.

The bleeding hearts will be against it of course, but they will have Ukraine to wail over.

The ordinary russians will be amazed at how much wealth there is in so few hands.

The russian mafia would be evicted from their mansions to my delight..

Well I can daydream huh.

[nomadpete]

Well I'm boycotting all Russian purchases.

That'll show them!

[Jerry_Atrick]

Just cancelled my Lada Niva order...

 

Over 'ere, they have decided to cancel the Golden Visa scheme. London has become known for a financial crime centre particularly for wealthy Russians to park their ill-gotten gains as for some reason, the wealthy foreign "investors" do not need to provide sources of funds, etc.. What could go wromg?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60410844

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

Yep, I never considered a foxbat either.... This is tough on honest Russians I know but they did vote for Putin. Mind you, what is the difference between Ukraine and Cuba?

[onetrack]

It's interesting to see the figures on Australian-Russian trade. We only buy about a third of what they buy from us - with grain being their big purchase.

This season, I believe the Russians have been big buyers of our wheat, due to drought in Europe last season.

I have no idea why they buy sizeable quantities of inulin from us, what they use it for, or even where it comes from, here.

 

https://www.exportfinance.gov.au/resources/country-profiles/russia/bilateral-relations/

 

[red750]

I got this by email. I'll leave it for others to check the veracity of it...

 

“What is special about Ukraine and does it matter?”
 
How the nation of Ukraine ranks:

1st) in Europe in proven recoverable reserves of uranium ores;

2nd) place in Europe and 10th place in the world in  terms of titanium ore reserves;

2nd) place in the world in terms of explored reserves of manganese ores (2.3 billion tons, or 12% of the world's reserves);

 

2nd) largest iron ore reserves in the world (30 billion tons);

2nd) place in Europe in terms of mercury ore reserves;

3rd) place in Europe (13th place in the world) in shale gas reserves (22 trillion cubic meters)4th in the world by the total value of natural resources;

7th) place in the world in coal reserves (33.9 billion tons)

 

Ukraine is an agricultural country:

1st) in Europe in terms of arable land area;

3rd) place in the world by the area of black soil (25% of world's volume);

1st) place in the world in exports of sunflower and sunflower oil;

2nd) place in the world in barley production and 4th place in barley exports;

3rd) largest producer and 4th largest exporter of corn in the world;

4th) largest producer of potatoes in the world;

5th) largest rye producer in the world;

5th) place in the world in bee production (75,000 tons);

8th) place in the world in wheat exports;

9th) place in the world in the production of chicken eggs;

16th) place in the world in cheese exports.

Ukraine can meet the food needs of 600 million people.

Ukraine is an industrialized country:

1st) in Europe in ammonia production;

2-е) Europe's and 4th largest natural gas pipeline system in the world (142.5 bln cubic meters of gas throughput capacity in the EU);

3rd) largest in Europe and 8th largest in the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power plants;

3rd) place in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of rail network length (21,700 km);

3rd) place in the world (after the U.S. and France) in production of locators and locating equipment;

3rd) largest iron exporter in the world

4th) largest exporter of turbines for nuclear power plants in the world;

4th) world's largest manufacturer of rocket launchers;

4th) place in the world in clay exports

4th) place in the world in titanium exports

8th) place in the world in exports of ores and concentrates;

9th) place in the world in exports of defence industry products;

10th) largest steel producer in the world (32.4 million tons).

[onetrack]

I found the World Atlas site, that says the Ukraine is 3rd leading country in the world for clay exports.

 

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/leading-exporters-of-clay.html

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Looking up a random sample of stats, they don't seem too far off at +/- 1 or on the money if the internet is to be believed.

 

Though some of the claims are dubious - largest iron ore reserves in the world.. well.. that still goes to Australia.. by a way.. Ukraine come in at 5th place - which is not too shabby, but context has to be placed.. The reserves of Australian Iron ore at the top are claimed (at the time of writing) to be 50m tonnes.. and around 26% of the worlds reserves. Number 4 is China at 20 million tonnes, or around 11% of the worlds reserves. Then comes Ukraine, with 6.5 million tonnes and 4% of the world's reserves.

 

Having said that, it is a bit of a fruit bowl for a suitor...

 

 

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

Mind you, what is the difference between Ukraine and Cuba?

Cuba has more palm trees.

[nomadpete]

And not so much uranium.

[willedoo]

2 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Looking up a random sample of stats, they don't seem too far off at +/- 1 or on the money if the internet is to be believed.

 

Though some of the claims are dubious - largest iron ore reserves in the world.. well.. that still goes to Australia.. by a way.. Ukraine come in at 5th place - which is not too shabby, but context has to be placed.. The reserves of Australian Iron ore at the top are claimed (at the time of writing) to be 50m tonnes.. and around 26% of the worlds reserves. Number 4 is China at 20 million tonnes, or around 11% of the worlds reserves. Then comes Ukraine, with 6.5 million tonnes and 4% of the world's reserves.

 

Having said that, it is a bit of a fruit bowl for a suitor...

 

 

Stats can be deceiving, like this one. '2-е) Europe's and 4th largest natural gas pipeline system in the world (142.5 bln cubic meters of gas throughput capacity in the EU); ' That's probably true but doesn't mean Ukraine has heaps of their own gas. Most of the pipeline system is transit pipeline shipping Russian NG into Europe. Ukraine is also a big buyer of Russian NG which accounts for a lot of domestic pipeline. Royalties on Russian transit gas is a big earner for Ukraine and is their main objection to Nord Stream 2. They're worried that if it goes into operation, Russia will shut down the Ukrainian transit line and deprive them of cash.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Definitely agree with that... 5th in Steel reserves also doesn't mean they're in the big league, either...

 

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, onetrack said:

It's interesting to see the figures on Australian-Russian trade. We only buy about a third of what they buy from us - with grain being their big purchase.

This season, I believe the Russians have been big buyers of our wheat, due to drought in Europe last season.

I have no idea why they buy sizeable quantities of inulin from us, what they use it for, or even where it comes from, here.

Russia is the world's biggest wheat exporter. They grew about 75 million tonnes last year, this year about 80 million expected. I would guess they import wheat from us to fill shortfalls in export contracts they are committed to. A bit like how we import iron ore and resell it.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Years ago, I went to Horsham to hear the story from a returning Churchill scholar who had been to the Ukraine.

" They have a metre of topsoil and a metre of rainfall" he said, to those of us who have 60mm of topsoil and 600mm of rainfall, " and they still practice water conservation farming".

[Bruce Tuncks]

And get this...  The UK produces more GRAIN than Australia.

[onetrack]

Bruce, I can't find figures that support your claim that the U.K. produces more grain than Australia. The total production tonnage, on an annual basis, bounces around a lot in both countries, so we need to utilise a 5 yr average.

 

The U.K.'s 5 yr production averages from 2015-2019: (see page 10 in the link below)

 

Wheat - 15.1M tonnes

Winter barley - 3.1M tonnes

Spring barley - 4.1M tonnes

Oats - 0.9M tonnes

Oilseeds - 2.0M tonnes

------------------------------

Total - 25.2M tonnes

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946161/structure-jun2020final-uk-22dec20.pdf

 

Australia's 5 yr average grain production, 2013-2018:

 

Wheat - 25.3M tonnes

Barley - 9.6M tonnes

Oats - 1.1M tonnes

Oilseeds - 3.4M tonnes

Pulses - 2.8M tonnes

Sorghum - 1.66M tonnes

---------------------------

Total - 43.86M tonnes

 

https://rdeplan.grdc.com.au/industry-at-a-glance

 

Interestingly, this years grain production has been an all-time record for Australia, with wheat production reaching 54M tonnes, canola production reaching just under 6M tonnes, and total grain production reaching 62M tonnes.

W.A. has just produced its biggest grain crop on record, at 24M tonnes received into storage - primarily wheat and canola, with much lesser amounts of barley and oats.

 

https://www.farmingahead.com.au/agronomy/news/1426344/wa-records-exceptional-24-million-tonne-grain-crop

[facthunter]

There's a big variation of acres planted for wheat. The marginal areas are often only planted on average about one out of three years and the Planter may lease the land  on those occasions. based on forecasts and existing soil moisture.  Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

And my figures go back about 30 years.  So Onetrack is likely correct now. I'm sure I was quoting a respectable source at the time.

Sorry to have been part of any disinformation. I do know ( having seen them ) that you can't walk through a UK crop but you sure can with an Australian one.

[onetrack]

No problem as regards any incorrect information, Bruce - I've posted incorrect information myself, and I always like to check quoted figures.

One of the problems with stats is trying to get some kind of accuracy, as they're usually at least a year or two behind in their collation, and the figures are often deficient, because they often tend to be selective.

[facthunter]

In some areas of Australia yield/acre is quite low.  Nev

[willedoo]

41 minutes ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

And my figures go back about 30 years.  So Onetrack is likely correct now. I'm sure I was quoting a respectable source at the time.

Sorry to have been part of any disinformation. I do know ( having seen them ) that you can't walk through a UK crop but you sure can with an Australian one.

I was wondering about that. Compared to Australia, the UK figures are high for a small land mass. They must be good, high yielding crops.

[onetrack]

Wheat yields are around 7-8 tonnes per Ha in the U.K. and around 2 tonnes per Ha in Australia. The U.K. has very productive soils, and they get large and regular amounts of rainfall.

[Old Koreelah]

…and verrry long days during the growing season.

[Yenn]

There is more at stake than tonnage of some of these crops. Wheat for example is used mainly for bread making and Aussie wheat has a high gluten content, whereas English wheat has less gluten and more gliadin, which makes it a poor choice for bread making.

We used to produce at a maximum 2 tons to the acre of wheat on the farm I worked on in England and that was good going back in the fifties. World production of all crops has increased due to the overuse of artificial fertilisers, which has made the soil poorer, due to the lack of vegetable matter content in the topsoil.

There is no doubt that the Ukraine is one of the worlds best agricultural countries.

No doubt Russia would like to control it completely, but they could do what the USA and China do, which is just control where the profits go. That way the Ukranians do the work and Russia sits back in comfort.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Getting back to the sanctions stuff, I reckon taking all the money from every Russian ( well those assets abroad which would be collectable) would be very effective...   but it won't be done is my guess. Maybe you could exempt those who have proven that they are enemies of the current regime, but this would weaken the sanctions badly. They would all magically come up with proof of enmity.

Even the Russian mafia in London, newly evicted from their confiscated mansions, would partially blame Putin.

I wonder how much of Australia is up for grabs?