China lashes out at latest Russia sanctions
RT | February 26, 2024
Beijing firmly opposes restrictions placed on its companies as part of the latest sanctions imposed on Moscow by Western countries, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Monday.
The US announced a new batch of sanctions against Russia on Friday, ahead of the second anniversary of the Ukraine conflict. The measures include trade curbs which target 63 entities from Russia, and 30 companies from China, Türkiye, the UAE, Kyrgyzstan, India, and South Korea for allegedly supporting Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
According to the statement published on the Chinese Commerce Ministry’s official website, Washington’s new measures “damage the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.”
“The US approach is a typical example of unilateral sanctions, ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ and economic coercion, which undermines international economic and trade rules and order. China is firmly opposed to this,” the ministry said, adding that Beijing will take steps to “safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”
In a separate statement, the ministry commented on the latest sanctions imposed by the EU and UK, warning that they would also have a “negative impact” on global economic and trade ties. Brussels came up with its own Russia-linked sanctions package last week, which included restrictions on four Chinese companies, while the UK sanctioned three Chinese electronics firms.
The sanctions targeting non-Russian entities are designed to prevent companies around the world from aiding Moscow in circumventing Western restrictions adopted in previous packages. Moscow has criticized the sanctions policy as a whole, while noting that they have failed to destabilize the Russian economy, and have instead backfired on the countries that imposed them.
According to the latest official figures, Russia’s GDP expanded by 3.6% in 2023, outpacing both the US and EU. The sanctions have resulted in the country reorienting most of its trade to Asia, while many Western states have lost access to cheap Russian energy, facing soaring inflation and cost-of-living crises as a result.
Four Norwegian universities cut ties with Israeli institutions over Gaza genocide
Press TV – February 24, 2024
Four Norwegian universities have decided to suspend ties with Israeli universities they deem complicit in the occupying regime’s genocidal war in Gaza.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) welcomed the decisions, hailing them as a crucial step in supporting the Palestinian struggle.
The move aligns with the campaign’s call for international academic and cultural institutions to sever ties with Israeli counterparts involved in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Among the universities taking action, OsloMet has announced the termination of its ties with Haifa University and vowed not to engage in any new agreements with Israeli universities complicit in the war.
Additionally, OsloMet has committed to discontinuing procurement contracts with suppliers linked to the Israeli military or illegal settlements.
The University of South Eastern Norway has followed suit, cutting off relations with Haifa University and Hadassah Academic College.
Similarly, the University of Bergen has severed cooperation agreements with Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, citing the academy’s involvement in providing uniforms and gear for the Israeli military.
The Bergen School of Architecture has also joined in this action, ending its collaboration with Bezalel Academy over its ties with the Israeli military.
This move echoes the sentiments expressed by 15 Palestinian universities, which have called for Israeli universities to face international isolation for their complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Norway’s pension fund, with some US$95 billion worth of assets, announced that it was divesting from their entire Israel Bond holdings over their links with the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Russia tears up Soviet-era fishing agreement with UK
RT | February 21, 2024
British fishermen will be banned from operating in the Barents Sea, one of the world’s largest fisheries for cod and haddock, under new legislation passed by the lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, on Wednesday.
The bill, which rescinds an agreement signed between the governments of the USSR, the UK, and Northern Ireland in 1956, was passed in its third reading.
The so-called Fisheries Agreement had allowed British ships to fish in the Barents Sea off the north coast of the Kola Peninsula. It was initially signed for a period of five years and automatically renewed every five years since neither party ever withdrew from the agreement.
“The agreement was unfortunately one-sided giving the authority and right to fish only to our partners at the time,” Deputy Agriculture Minister Maksim Uvaidov said, clarifying the details of the treaty. He added that the agreement didn’t provide Soviet fishermen with similar rights.
Taking into account the UK’s decision to strip Russia of ‘most favored nation’ status in 2022, which led to a 35% tariff hike on Russian goods, Moscow says that ending the Soviet-era agreement “will not cause serious foreign policy or economic consequences” for the country.
Commenting on the legislation, Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that by tearing up the agreement Russia was returning to its own possession the fish that the UK had been consuming for decades.
“He [President Vladimir Putin] returned our fish to us, because the English, shameless, had been eating it for 68 years. They have imposed sanctions on us, while they themselves make up 40% of their diet, their fish menu, from our cod. Let them now lose some weight,” Volodin said.
A Sky News report from last year claimed that up to 40% of the cod and haddock consumed in the UK comes from Russia.
Dutch court denies Russia’s appeal of $50bn Yukos award
RT | February 20, 2024
The Amsterdam Court of Appeal on Tuesday dismissed Russia’s latest legal challenge in the high-profile Yukos case and upheld the enforcement of a $50 billion award to the former shareholders of the now-defunct oil company.
Energy giant Yukos, once owned by ex-oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, collapsed in 2006 after the company failed to pay billions of dollars in back taxes. The latest ruling concerns a decade-long trial at the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which, in 2014 ruled that Russia had violated its international obligations by taking steps to bankrupt the massive oil company in the early 2000s. Moscow has insisted that the dispute with the shareholders was outside the jurisdiction of any foreign court.
According to a statement on Tuesday by the Amsterdam court, Russia’s claim that the shareholders had committed fraud during the arbitration proceedings was made too late. It further said that even if the claim had been considered, it would not have changed the verdict on the arbitration award. “The conclusion is that the arbitration awards remain in force,” the statement reads.
Back in 2014, the arbitration tribunal ordered Russia to pay $50 billion in compensation to the former controlling shareholders of Yukos: Hulley Enterprises and Veteran Petroleum based in Cyprus and Yukos Universal based in the Isle of Man. The Dutch Supreme Court later overturned the ruling.
The ex-shareholders, who claim that the Russian government drove the company to bankruptcy for political reasons, later initiated proceedings in several jurisdictions, including the US.
The private company Yukos was formed after a controversial auction of state assets following the fall of the Soviet Union and quickly became one of the world’s most valuable companies.
The founder of the oil and gas giant, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was once Russia’s richest man. However, he was arrested and charged with fraud in 2003 and was imprisoned until 2013. His claim that his arrest was politically motivated is widely accepted by the Western media.
Moscow denies the charges and says that foreign courts did not consider that national laws governing fraud and other wrongdoing might have been broken. In 2020, Russia’s Constitutional Court ruled that Russia could refuse to pay any settlement imposed by the Dutch judges. The basis for the arbitration is the terms of the Energy Charter Treaty, which Moscow signed but never ratified.
UAE banks closing Russian accounts – media
RT | February 19, 2024
Several large banks in the United Arab Emirates have begun limiting transactions with Russia and closing the accounts of Russian companies and individuals due to the risk of secondary Western sanctions, the news outlet Vedomosti reported on Monday, citing businessmen working in the UAE.
The sources, whose identities are not disclosed in the article, told Vedomosti that in September first-tier UAE banks, such as First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD, and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, largely purged their ties to Russia. It thus became virtually impossible to carry out transactions with Russia using these banks. This happened after Russia’s Ak Bars Bank, which used to be the main channel for Russia-Emirati payments, came under US sanctions.
Second-tier institutions have allegedly so far treated Russian companies and individuals more loyally, but have demanded that these clients purchase additional banking services or put extra funds on their accounts.
The sources also complained that it has recently become next to impossible to open a new account with the country’s larger banks. Many applications from Russian residents are returned after the first compliance check.
The sources attributed the problem to sanctions. According to one businessman, his company’s account was closed after it was discovered that one of the products he was importing had appeared on a EU sanctions list. Some also said banks may be wary of a decree signed in December by US President Joe Biden enabling punitive measures against financial institutions outside US and EU jurisdictions that continue to work with Russia. The regulation specifically targets lenders that facilitate transactions related to the Russian military-industrial complex.
According to analysts briefed by the news outlet, it is still possible for Russian residents to run a business successfully in the UAE, but certain criteria must be met. For instance, the business activity itself should not fall under sanctions; the company should not be linked to ‘politically exposed persons’ in Russia such as government officials, top managers of large Russian companies or banks; and it should not deal with products under Western sanctions, especially dual-use goods that could be employed by the military.
A Vedomosti source close to the Kremlin said the government is aware of the problems faced by Russian businesses in the UAE, but doesn’t consider them critical or unsolvable.
China demands US lift ‘illegal unilateral sanctions’
RT | February 17, 2024
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to remove sanctions on the country’s businesses when the two met on the sidelines of the 60th Munich Security Conference on Friday.
The meeting is the latest in a series of highest-level talks since US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in November of last year. Shortly after their summit, the US leader caused outrage in China when he stated that he stood by an earlier comment labeling his Chinese counterpart a “dictator” in response to a question by a journalist.
The two countries ended 2023 with an uneasy detente after a year that brought American panic over alleged Chinese spy balloons, and US tech sanctions that restricted China’s access to advanced chip-making tools and artificial intelligence processors. The two nations have also been locked in a growing military rivalry.
Wang said that pursuing the aim of “decoupling from China” will eventually backfire on the US, as cited by the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s press service. He called on Washington to lift the “illegal unilateral sanctions” against Chinese companies and individuals and not to undermine China’s legitimate right to develop.
Most of the recent sanctions against China were imposed in 2018, when the administration of then-President Donald Trump banned US agencies from using equipment and services from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, fearing that the company was facilitating espionage.
Tensions escalated further in October 2022, when the Biden administration announced new limits on the sale of semiconductor technology to China, a step aimed at blocking Beijing’s access to critical technologies.
While speaking to his Chinese counterpart on Friday, Blinken raised concerns about China’s alleged support for Russia’s military industrial base. In 2022, the US imposed sanctions against several businesses in China for what Washington claims was aid provided to the Russian military amid the Ukraine conflict.
China has repeatedly denied US claims that it is considering arming Russia. Since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, China has consistently called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Beijing has also stood up to Western pressure to join sanctions on Moscow, while instead boosting economic cooperation with Russia. Chinese customs data shows that trade turnover between the two countries has grown by 26.6% percent in the past year, reaching a record $240 billion.
The Great Reset Didn’t Work: The Case of EVs
By Jeffrey A. Tucker | Brownstone Institute | February 15, 2024
We are living through one of history’s longest and most excruciating versions of “We told you so.” When in March 2020, the world’s government decided to “shut down” the world’s economies and throttle any and all social activity, and deny kids schooling plus cancel worship services and holidays, there was no end to the warnings of the terrible collateral damage, even if most of them were censored.
Every bit of the warnings proved true. You see it in every story in the news. It’s behind every headline. It’s in countless family tragedies. It’s in the loss of trust. It’s in the upheaval in industry and demographics. The fingerprints of lockdowns are deeply embedded in every aspect of our lives, in ways obvious and not so much.
Actually, the results have been even worse than critics predicted, simply because the chaos lasted such a long time. There are seemingly endless iterations of this theme. Learning losses, infrastructure breakages, rampant criminality, vast debt, inflation, lost work ethic, a growing commercial real estate bust, real income losses, political extremism, labor shortages, substance addiction, and more much besides, all trace to the fateful decision.
The headlines on seemingly unrelated matters go back to the same, in circuitous ways. A good example is the news of the electric vehicle bust. The confusion, disorientation, malinvestment, overproduction, and retrenchment – along with the crazed ambition to force convert a country and world away from oil and gas toward wind and solar – all trace to those fateful days.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “As recently as a year ago, automakers were struggling to meet the hot demand for electric vehicles. In a span of months, though, the dynamic flipped, leaving them hitting the brakes on what for many had been an all-out push toward an electric transformation.”
Reading the story, it’s clear that the reporter is downplaying the sheer scale of the boom-bust.
That’s not to say that Tesla itself is going bust, only that it has a defined market segment. The technology of EVs simply cannot and will not become the major way Americans drive. It might have seemed otherwise for a moment in time but that was due to factors that traced exactly to pent up demand caused by lockdowns and huge errors in supply management due to bad signaling.
Looking back, the lockdowns hit in the spring of 2020 and supply chains were entirely frozen by force. This might have been a major problem for car manufacturers that had long relied on just-in-time inventory strategies. However, at the very time, the demand for travel collapsed. Commutes came to an end, and vacations too. At that same time, pre-arranged government subsidies and mandates for EVs flooded the industry, all of which were later ramped up by the Biden administration.
As demand picked up, retailers sold their old inventory of cars and looked to manufacturers for more but the chips needed to complete the cars were not available. Many cars were put on hold and lots emptied out. This continued through the following year as used car prices soared and stock was otherwise depleted.
By the time matters became desperate in the fall of 2021, manufacturers discerned a heightened demand for EVs and began to retool their factories for more. There was even a time when cars were being shipped without power steering, just to meet the demand.
It might have seemed for a time like the crazed period we just lived through was birthing a completely different way of life. A kind of irrationality, born of shock and awe, swept industry and culture. The EV was central to it.
This demand seemed to pan out in 2022 as Americans grabbed whatever cars were available, perhaps willing to give the new doohickies a shot. So on it went as more carmakers threw more resources at production, benefitting from massive subsidies and staying in compliance with new mandates for reducing their carbon footprint.
There was no particular reason to think anything would go wrong. But then the next year began to reveal uncomfortable truths. Cold weather dramatically cuts the range of the EVs. Charging stations are not as readily available on longer trips, charging takes longer than one expects, and having to plan such matters adds time. In addition, the repair bills can be extremely high if you can find someone to do it.
Tesla as a manufacturer had planned out all such contingencies but other carmakers less so. Very quickly the EVs gained a bad reputation on a number of different fronts.
“Last summer, dealers began warning of unsold electric vehicles clogging their lots. Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and others shifted from frenetic spending on EVs to delaying or downsizing some projects,” writes the Journal. “Dealers who had been begging automakers to ship more EVs faster are now turning them down.”
In short, “the massive miscalculation has left the industry in a bind, facing a potential glut of EVs and half-empty factories while still having to meet stricter environmental regulations globally.”
Today, lots are selling the cars at a loss just to avoid the costs of keeping them around.
Truly, this has been one spectacular boom-bust in a single industry. There seems to be no real end to the bust either. These days it appears that everyone has given up on any chance of actually converting the mass of American cars to become EVs. All recent trends are headed in the other direction.
Meanwhile, the EV is deeply loved by many as 1) a second car, 2) for well-to-do suburban commuters, 3) who own homes, 4) can charge overnight, and 5) have a gas car as a backup for cold weather and out-of-town trips. That is to say, the market is becoming exactly what it should be – a street-worthy golf cart with very fancy features – and not some paradigmatic case for the “great reset.” That’s simply not happening, despite all the subsidies and tax breaks.
“A confluence of factors had led many auto executives to see the potential for a dramatic societal shift to electric cars,” writes the Journal, including “government regulations, corporate climate goals, the rise of Chinese EV makers, and Tesla’s stock valuation, which, at roughly $600 billion, still towers over the legacy car companies. But the push overlooked an important constituency: the consumer.”
Indeed, the American economy, much to the chagrin of many, still primarily relies on consumers to make choices in their best interest. When that doesn’t happen, no amount of subsidies can make up the difference.
This story is impossible to understand without reference to the crazed illusions caused by lockdowns. Those are what provided the respite of time to allow automakers to retool. Then they boosted demand artificially for transportation after a long period in which inventory had been depleted.
Then the whole ridiculous ethos of the “great reset” convinced idiotic corporate executives that nothing would ever be the same. Maybe we would get 15-minute cities powered by sunbeams and breezes after all, along with a social-credit system that would allow the authorities to decommission our ability to drive in an instant.
It turns out that the entire bit, including the fake prosperity of the lockdown economy, made possible by money printing and grotesque levels of government spending, was unsustainable. Even sophisticated car companies bought into the nonsense. Now they are paying a very heavy price. The new market depended on a panic of buying that turned out to be temporary.
In short, the illusions of these horrible policies have come crashing down. It was born of liberty-wrecking policies under the cover of virus control. Every special interest seized the day, including a new generation of industrialists seeking to displace the old ones by force.
More and more, it’s obvious what a disaster this was. And yet no one has apologized. Hardly anyone has admitted error. The big shots who wrecked the world are still in power.
The rest of us are left holding the bag, and paying very high repair bills for cars that are non-optimal for driving from one town to another and back again in the cold weather that was supposed to be gone by now had the “climate change” prophets been correct. They turn out to be as correct as those who promised us that we would no longer need “fossil fuels” and that the magic inoculation would protect everyone from a killer virus.
What astonishing illusions were born of this nutty and destructive period. At some point, not even corporate CEOs will be tricked by the experts.
Jeffrey Tucker is Founder, Author, and President at Brownstone Institute.
Moody’s Downgrades Israel, Warns That Weaker US Backing for Israel, War with Hezbollah Would Trigger Crash
By John Helmer – Dances with Bears – February 11, 2024
Twice already the warning of the obvious has been posted in the money markets — Israel cannot survive a long war with the Arabs and Iran.
In this long war, the gods do not favour the Chosen People, it was reported on October 27, three weeks after the Hamas offensive began. The decline in Israel’s export earnings from tourism and diamonds; the loss of imported supplies for manufacturing and consumption from the Houthi blockade of the Red Sea; and increasing risk to both imports and exports at the Mediterranean ports within range of Hamas and Hezbollah strikes were identified at that time.
The international ratings agencies, Moody’s, Fitch and Standard and Poors, postponed announcing the obvious for as long as they could.
In attrition war, on the economic front just like the Gaza and other fire fronts, the Axis of Resistance wins by maintaining its offensive capacities and operations for longer than the US and US-backed Israeli forces can defend. Like troops, tanks, and artillery pieces, the operational goal is to grind the enemy slowly but surely into retreat, then capitulation. Last week, Moody’s had already decided in-house to downgrade Israel; for several days senior management fended off a ferocious attack from Israeli officials and their supporters in the US trying to compel postponement of the downgrade and the analytical report substantiating it.
On February 6, in a review of the shekel, bond, credit default swaps (CDS), budget deficit, and other indicators, the conclusion was there could be no stopping the money markets from moving against Israel. Negative ratings from the agencies raise the cost of servicing Israel’s state and corporate bonds, and put pressure on the state budget. A ratings downgrade is a signal to the markets to go negative against the issuer – this usually comes after the smart money has changed its mind and direction. In Israel’s case, however, there has been an exceptional delay between negative outlook and downgrade. The last Fitch report on Israel was dated October 17; Moody’s followed on October 19; Standard & Poors (S&P) on October 24.
That Israeli and US tactics had forced postponement of new reports from the troika was obvious. A fresh warning was published on this website: as real estate and other tax collections collapse, Israel will have to make a large cash call on the US. This is going to come in the near future, just as the government in Kiev has been forced into calling on Congress as the Ukraine war is being lost. The longer both wars are protracted, the more obviously the loss of confidence expresses itself in Washington.
Moody’s has now caught up. According to the Israeli press, this is the first credit and currency downgrade in their country’s history.
In a report dated last Friday but not issued until Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, the agency officially reduced Israel’s rating from A1 to A2, and added pointers of further downgrading to come. The Anglo-American press immediately reacted against Moody’s. “Israel hits back”, the Financial Times headlined. The newspaper added: “[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, in a rare statement over the Jewish Sabbath, said: ‘The rating downgrade is not connected to the economy, it is entirely due to the fact that we are in a war. The rating will go back up the moment we win the war — and we will win the war.’” In the Associated Press report, “Israel’s finance minister blasts Moody’s downgrade”. Rupert Murdoch’s platform Fox claimed: “Israel has a strong, open economy despite Moody’s downgrade”. “Israel’s creditworthiness remains high,” according to the New York Times, “but the rating agency noted that the outlook for the country was negative… A rating of A2 is still a high rating.”
The press release version of Moody’s report is republished verbatim so that its meaning can be understood without the propaganda.
Three points have been missed in the Anglo-American counterattack and Israeli government’s bluster. The first is the warning that Israel will soon have to request enormous cash backing from the US, and if there is any sign of weakening on that in Washington, the collapse of the Israeli economy and its capacity to continue its war is inevitable. The Moody’s report camouflaged the point this way: “The related issuances benefit from an irrevocable, on-demand guarantee provided by the Government of the United States of America (Aaa negative) with the government acting through USAID. The notes benefit explicitly from ‘the full faith and credit of the US’ and as per prospectus, USAID is obligated to pay within three business days if the guarantee is called upon.”
The second point strikes at announcements from Israel Defence Forces (IDF) generals and Netanyahu of their plan to expand their operations on the northern front – the Litani River ultimatum they called it in December. According to Moody’s report, “downside risks remain at the A2 rating level. In particular, the risk of an escalation involving Hezbollah in the North of Israel remains, which would have a potentially much more negative impact on the economy than currently assumed under Moody’s baseline scenario. Government finances would also be under more intense pressure in such a scenario.”
The third point is the most explosive. After cutting Israel’s rating to A2, Moody’s warned that further and deeper downgrades may follow, but that there is presently no way the ratings agency can predict what will happen next. “The ongoing military conflict with Hamas, its aftermath and wider consequences materially raise political risk for Israel as well as weaken its executive and legislative institutions and its fiscal strength, for the foreseeable future.”
In flagging those last four words – “for the foreseeable future” — Moody’s has told the markets that the strategic initiative in this war has now passed to the Axis of Resistance. Of course, the Arabs and Iranians already know. … Full article
Beijing reacts to claim EU will target Chinese firms with Russia sanctions
RT | February 14, 2024
Beijing rejects “illegal sanctions” and will defend the interests of its companies, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said following a report that the EU could blacklist some of the country’s firms for allegedly helping Russia to evade the bloc’s restrictions.
The EU is planning to place restrictions on three Chinese businesses and one Indian company as part of its 13th round of sanctions on Russia over its conflict with Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
Brussels believes the firms in question are helping Moscow to circumvent existing restrictions, especially through the supply of electronic components that can be repurposed for use in drones and other weapons systems. If the plan is approved by member states, it will see the EU sanction companies from mainland China and India – two of the bloc’s key trading partners – for the first time.
”We are aware of the relevant reports,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. “China firmly opposes illegal sanctions or ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ against China on the grounds of cooperation between China and Russia.”
Chinese and Russian companies “carry out normal exchanges and cooperation and do not target third parties, nor should they be interfered with or influenced by third parties,” the ministry said.
Beijing “will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”
According to media reports, the EU was already considering sanctioning Chinese firms over their links with Russia last year, but refrained from doing so after Beijing assured Brussels that it was not supporting Moscow’s military effort in Ukraine.
Indian newspaper the Economic Times claimed on Wednesday that the government in New Delhi was also studying reports that an Indian firm could face sanctions over its dealings with Russia.
The Indian authorities may ask senior EU officials to clarify the situation during their meetings as part of the Raisina Dialogue forum on geopolitics and economy, which will take place in New Delhi next week, according to the outlet.
The paper’s source said it was “curious” that the report had emerged ahead of the high-profile event in the Indian capital.
Since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, both China and India have consistently called for a peaceful resolution of the crisis. Beijing and New Delhi have resisted Western pressure to join sanctions on Moscow, and instead have boosted economic cooperation with Russia, becoming the main destinations for Russian oil.
Chinese customs data shows that trade turnover between the two countries has grown by 26.6% percent in the past year, reaching a record $240 billion. The sales volume between Russia and India in the first ten months of 2023 stood at almost $55 billion, according to the Russian ambassador in New Delhi – an increase of 41% compared to 2022.
Scrapping Russian gas deal would cause prices to ‘explode’ – Austrian MP
RT | February 13, 2024
Austria’s plans to end a long-term contract for Russian gas would cause energy prices to “explode” and would fuel inflation in the country, Axel Kassegger, a member of the Freedom Party of Austria, has warned.
On Monday, Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler urged for radical steps to be taken to cut the country’s reliance on Russian gas, including breaking the long-term deal that state-owned energy company OMV has with Russia’s Gazprom until 2040.
In December, the share of Russian gas in Austria’s total gas imports surged to a new record of 98%, up from 76% the previous month, according to Gewessler.
“The market and the energy companies that are part of it are not fulfilling their responsibility to reduce the dependency on Russian gas sufficiently,” the minister said. “We must prepare to exit OMV’s long-term contracts,” she added.
Kassegger, a member of the Austrian National Council, took aim at Gewessler’s plans on Monday, urging members of other political parties who have “retained any trace of economic policy common sense” to “ring all the bells” at the announcement and say a “clear no” to the idea “immediately.”
He warned that a decision to rescind the contract with Russia would result in a several-fold increase in gas prices, send inflation skyrocketing, and deprive Austrian businesses of competitive advantages.
“In her green-ideological drive, Minister Gewessler has apparently set herself the goal of causing energy prices to explode even further in the final phase of her term in office and thus driving our economy and industry completely into a wall,” he said.
Austria’s imports of Russian gas reached pre-Ukraine conflict levels last year, as the country imported almost double the amount of gas its economy needed. Stable Russian gas supplies and increased shipments allowed Vienna to become a net energy exporter for the first time in twenty years.
Kassegger said that “an end to these gas supply contracts would therefore be the next political knee-jerk that this unfortunate black-green federal government takes” in order to comply with EU sanctions, which only harm the Austrian population and economy without causing any change in Russia’s behavior.
He called for an end to the “demonization” of fossil fuels in a “hysterical” climate policy from the “ideological ivory tower,” saying that Austria needs an energy policy that pursues only the interests of its own citizens and businesses.
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From the Archives
The New Baghdad Pact
By Dr Bouthaina Shaaban | February 23, 2017
A recently declassified CIA document prepared in 1983, and released on 20 January 2017, shows that the United States had at the time encouraged Saddam Hussein to attack Syria, which would have led to a vicious conflict between the two countries, thus draining their resources.
The report, which was then prepared by CIA officer Graham Fuller, indicates that the US tried adamantly to convince Saddam to attack Syria under any pretense available, in order to get the two most powerful countries in the Arab East to destroy each other, turning their attention away from the Arab-Israeli conflict. … continue
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