The sanctions targeted government officials, mostly Putin's former colleagues from the security services, heads of key state companies and some of Putin's mouthpieces in the Duma and the Federation Council. Ana Paula Hirama / Flickr
No Palace Coup in Sight for Russia -- Ivan Nechepurenko, Moscow Times
When the U.S. government announced its first round of sanctions against President Vladimir Putin's friends over the Ukraine conflict in May, it made no bones about their aim: Increase the cost for them of Putin continuing his course and they will influence him to back off or, ultimately, throw him under the bus.
The sanctions quickly began to hit some where it hurts. Billionaire Gennady Timchenko, whom the U.S. Treasury Department has described as someone whose "activities in the energy sector have been closely linked to Putin," found that his wife was unable to pay for her back surgery in Switzerland in May when all his credit cards were suddenly blocked.
Timchenko, 61, has been friends with Putin for more than 20 years, and his labrador Romi is a daughter of Putin's favorite labrador Koni, he said in a rare and outspoken interview with ITAR-Tass published Monday.
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My Comment: The possibility of a Putin impeachment and/or coup is zero. His approval ratings are in the 80s, and in times of crisis the Russians are like the Americans and everyone else ... they circle the wagons .... and they have definitely circled the wagons right now. Later .... when this has all blown over .... dissent and opposition may escalate ... but for the moment .... no way.
5 comments:
Downtown Moscow looking pretty spiffy there WNU. I think I see at least 3 large overhead cranes to the right in the picture.
My cousins are in the construction/development business .... they run the business that my father and my uncle started in the early 90s. I am not involved in operations, but I get the reports and spreadsheets. Business is booming .... especially on the commercial side ... and especially in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. I did not noticed the cranes in the picture .... to me it is now normal .... which in itself is a surprise to me and an indication on how much times have changed. European and American sanctions are not impacting as much as the West would like to report, and in the event that credit markets become tight .... I know that Hong Kong/Chinese/Arab money is more than available for those who can pay back. I should also remark that Russian banks are not what they used to be 20 years (fly by night operations at best) .... today .... these banks are very very solid. I saw the numbers for what were the reserves in one of these banks last year .... it would make any American banker green with envy.
I should qualify the above remark. Things may look good now .... but who knows what may happen tomorrow. Case in point .... on my last visit to family and friends in Ukraine over a year ago .... everything looked great and the future looked promising. Today .... a complete hell-hole. Nothing .... sadly .... remains forever.
Funny how as we get older we see just how transitory things really are.
And that is why we must always enjoy the moment. :)
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