G7 to Seize $50 Billion in Russian Sovereign Proceeds for Ukraine
G7 to Seize $50 Billion in Russian Sovereign Proceeds for Ukraine
The real meaning of the ostensible G7 "loan"
“G7 Finalizes $50 Billion Ukraine Loan Backed by Russian Assets” says the media. What a curious thing we have here? It’s a “loan” to Ukraine, but it’s “backed” by Russian assets? How does that work?
Why is a loan to country A backed by assets of country B? Why does a loan to A have to be “backed” by anything other than A’s credit rating at all? Is this a pawnshop situation here? Have you ever heard of a $50 bn inter-governmental loan that requires collateral?
You have not, because this is not a loan. There is no expectation that Ukraine — already up to its neck in debt — will ever pay back these sums. What this actually is, is an advance.
Until now NATO governments have been transferring the interest from the $300 bn in frozen Russian reserves to Kiev as it accumulated. Thus in July the first EU transfer of €1.5 bn was made.
You can spot the problem right there. Albeit the Empire can keep the Russian reserves frozen forever, and get hundreds of billions from them over time, transferring over interest as it accumulated netted Ukraine only very small sums in the near term. The solution? The US and close clients give Ukraine an advance. They credit $50 billion to Kiev’s accounts right now and will repay themselves from the interest that Russia’s sovereign reserves accrue over time (about $3 bn annually).
In a sense, the frozen Russian reserves are now frozen Ukrainian reserves. Ukraine can't withdraw them, but it can get a $50 bn advance on the interest.
But this is just for the time being. Ultimately the West is in control. Today the proceeds are funneled to Kiev, but tomorrow it can be a different nation or a Russian Juan Guaido, particularly should Kiev ever seek rapprochement with Moscow or otherwise displease DC.
In the meantime, that the reserves are ostensibly “frozen” rather than alienated for good, also serves as bait for Moscow and maintains a measure of leverage over Russia. Today this leverage is small since the bait is not very credible, but could rise considerably in a post-Putin situation. Who’s to say what a post-Putin government might be willing to do if the repatriation of $300 bn is dangled in front of it?
So by taking control of Russia’s sovereign reserves, the Empire gets a measure of control over Ukraine and Russia both, and completely free of charge. Empire 2 : Slavs 0.
Not only is Russia out of half of its reserves it took fifteen years of sacrifice and austerity to build up, and that it could sorely use right now, but the West gets a $300 billion war chest to fund anti-Russian activities for the next century for free, courtesy of Vladimir Vladimirovich 5D judo master.
The incredible chess player who didn’t know not to keep sovereign reserves in EU accounts, or not to do an invasion without a heads up to his Central Banker.
But maybe I’m being too critical, who among us hasn’t started a war and accidentally funded the other side to the tune of $50 billion of our own money? Practically happens every Tuesday.
As some of you know, in January 2023 I had to let go of full-time publishing and return to factory work. The July 2022 PayPal sanctions for having the wrong COVID politics made my old site at Anti-Empire.com unviable, and my “substack offensive” of the second half of 2022 came up short.
After months of writing, numerous updates, and my best efforts to drum up backing, my paid Substack subscribers numbered 16 (thank you) out of 3000 total subs, while I had run out of savings that had supported my writing. Thus the factory could no longer be staved off.
This leaves Anti-Empire with far fewer updates and less ground covered than before. There is so much more that could be said in depth and width, but I just don’t have the time.
If you would like to have Anti-Empire more active, sign up as a paid subscriber if you can. I will return to full-time writing for AE should reader support ever return, hitting 100 paid subscribers.
Currently, the backing stands at 15 paid subscribers (up from 8 when I first made this appeal, thank you!).
That $300bn in Russian assets was the cheapest imaginable way to undermine the entire Western financial system. Already Western banks have lost a similar amount since the "freeze", and every theft since has been marked on every global financial investors diary.
The Kremlin repatriated as much as it could before the SMO, and dangled the rest as an irresistible carrot to the numbskulls and thieves running Western society - who literally could not stop themselves.
And needless to say, Russia already gained far MORE in assets from the equally imbecilic enforced "sanctions" that lead to Western companies giving in to the pressure and selling them for pennies on the dollar to Russians, who turned many of them into new companies filling the same demands.
Of course $300bn is a LOT of money, I wouldn't smack you if you only offered ME 1% of that, lmao.
But the Kremlin has gained something worth considerably more - the undermining of trust in Western financial institutions.
You lack the ability to think strategically.
Mandatory reminder that the reason the West has $300B in stolen Russian reserves is that Monke felt fit to tell Ramzan about the coming war and not Elvira.