Half-Brick McCurdy
@halfbrickmccurdy.bsky.social
A Scot in awe of Ukraine's courage and aghast at the West's turn to the Far-Right
Neat reminder e-commerce warehouses need to be set up near population centres, regardless of the tax breaks/subsidies on offer (or drone threats). No, Wildberries isn't relocating its St Petersburg facilities to Kazakhstan *
Stanimir Dobrev@delfoo.bsky.social · yesterdayThe head of the Kazakh Ministry of Trade said that the country has not received any new requests from Wildberries for the placement of warehouses.
1/3 Russian mortgage market: Despite successive interest rate cuts, the recovery in market rate borrowing remains modest. With the value of new subsidised mortgages as a % of the total having only fallen from c.80% to 2/3, the market remains heavily dependent on Kremlin largesse.
Call it what it is, which is a fucking show trial. And that's not a call back to 1930s Soviet Russia, it's a reference to America's own, disgusting show trial tradition.
Christopher Webb@cwebbonline.com · 4d agoPerformative bullshit. Fauci is a hero. Besides, they’re trying to ban an 85-year-old retiree from a job he already left.
Perversely, a bank discussing liquidity constraints implies confidence on its part (the usual is to skip the subject and talk about robust capital ratios instead). Sberbank's CEO having recently criticised interest rates (too high), here its CFO wants the central bank to do more about govt debt.
Russian Banks Lack Cash to Buy Government Debt, Sberbank Executive Says - The Moscow Times
Russian banks have no spare ruble liquidity to buy the government bonds used to finance the federal budget deficit, a senior Sberbank executive said, raising questions about Moscow’s ability to cover ...
themoscowtimes.com
christ if that’s not a metaphor for our times
👍 Progresses things from destroying one big business to obliterating Russian e-commerce (Ozon +Wildberries=77% market share). As Ozon shares are traded publicly (Wildberries is a private limited company), it's also an opportunity to see what attacks do to a company's share price.
(((Tendar)))@tendar.bsky.social · 6d agoZelenodolsk in Tatarstan, currently Russia: Looks like the first attempt to hit a logistics center of Ozon, Wildberries‘ strongest competitor.
1/2 Alongside the disruption, unexpected costs and holes due to appear in VTB Bank’s balance sheet (and presumably 10s of 1000s of small business bank accounts), the war on Wildberries has a bigger political and cultural significance. WIldberries is/was a Kremlin aligned national champion,
Stanimir Dobrev@delfoo.bsky.social · 6d agoUpdated Wildberries infographic. Again worker numbers are likely higher as we only have data for the first stage of the Penza warehouse and equipment in the warehouses would cost likely more than rebuilding them. We may also need a bigger map.
1/2 Misleading FT headline. The US senate vote simply advances a bill that would only eventually give Trump the option to impose sanctions and tariffs. Except, that's something he's already been doing willy-nilly without votes for over a year. And if implemented, what would be expected of Ukraine?
Iikka Korhonen@iikkakorhonen.bsky.social · last wk.”…proposed measures would target Russian officials, oligarchs and their family members, as well as the nation’s banks and financial institutions. They would also allow Trump to impose tariffs on imported goods from countries that buy Moscow’s oil and gas” giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
1/2 Except the Biden administration did appear to view Ukraine being invaded as a conflict where it was entitled to influence/in some cases decide strategy, and an opportunity to bleed a rival. The former analysis was wrong, the latter bad policy, and both generated -ve outcomes for Ukraine.
Joe Stieb@joestieb.bsky.social · last wk.have some guts and at least say this is what you think the US is doing with Ukraine. At least own up to that bullshit.
If true, fucking hell! Also BIM VTB is Wildberries main bank (reportedly holds 500 of Wildberries 1.3 tr RUB debt), that Wildberries breached loan covenants in 2025 (a sign of financial stress before recent events) and gawd knows what's happening to its cashflow right now.
WarTranslated (Dmitri)@wartranslated.bsky.social · last wk.VTB, one of Russia's largest state-owned banks, has started restricting clients' access to their funds.
Pondering whether Russia's economy will collapse is in fashion, but it may be the wrong question - for @foreignpolicy.com I weigh another one: how many pots of politically affordable money does the Kremlin have left to finance war & social stability (hint: not many) foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/27/r...
The Kremlin’s Easy Money Is Gone
Russia still has assets to tap for its war, but the political costs are growing.
foreignpolicy.com
Having sat on its hands over liberation day, the EU fining Google is itself notable. Factors here presumably include the legal fate of the liberation day tariffs, US mid-term elections, accepting the US is no longer a reliable NATO partner, that there's no more US aid for Ukraine and Trump fatigue.
Giles Wilkes@gilesyb.bsky.social · 2w agoIn response to the EU taxing American companies, he threatens to tax American consumers. - www.ft.com/content/9b81... via @financialtimes.com 🤪
So, all other things being equal, a nominal 1% increase in total annual revenue.
Kevin Rothrock@kevinrothrock.me · 2w agoRussia's state oil and gas revenue, which accounts for around a fifth of total budget income, will rise by 60% in July from the same month a year ago, thanks to the increase in global oil prices, Reuters estimates. Another gift from the Iran War! www.reuters.com/business/ene...
Without Ukraine's incredible successes on the battlefield, would this have happened? www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...
Brussels slaps €890m fine on Google despite looming new US tariffs
Brussels fined Google €890 million under its Big Tech rulebook for favouring its own services in search results and restricting app developers, despite Washington preparing a fresh set of trade tariff...
euronews.com
1/2 The current US administration is institutionally opposed to aiding Ukraine. Congress approved $400m in aid in January almost entirely at the behest of Democrats. By May senators were asking where the spending plan was having repeatedly asked for one. The answer is there is now a plan which is
Senators question Pentagon’s lack of Ukraine spending plan, Europe force posture changes
The Pentagon has yet to explain to Congress how it plans to spend $400 million lawmakers earmarked for weapons for Ukraine
stripes.com
1/2 So there’s the damage/disruption caused by destroying big warehouses, the symbolism of successful drone strikes on a business that’s very much a national champion (having benefited from big government subsidies), and then there’s the digits being wiped off the personal
(((Tendar)))@tendar.bsky.social · 2w agoUkrainian drones struck another Wildberries logistics center in Russia, this time in Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol region. The facility is completely on fire.
1/2 Russian e-commerce: Market dominated by Wildberries (45%) and Ozon (32%) Seen rapid growth and by 2025 accounted for c.19% of total retail sales (vs 16.9% in the US in 2026) Rather than home delivery, growth driven by development of parcel collection points, a new form of urban infrastructure
(((Tendar)))@tendar.bsky.social · 2w agoAnother Wildberries logistics hub was struck in Russia, this time near Domodedovo, Moscow region. It was bound to happen, eventually.
The petrol situation in Moscow, the least affected of any region, provides a good context for the destruction of the Wildberries warehouses; Moscovites might not be queuing for petrol, but they'll definitely be waiting for their next day delivery.
Janis Kluge@jakluge.de · 3w agoThe current situation at Russian gas stations: Improvement in Kazan and Rostov, but overall the situation hardly changed.
1/2 The US military spending subsidizing UK/EU welfare talking point needs shot in the face. First, US military spending is the only form of welfare/regional policy both parties agree on and is mostly spent in the US (c.85-90%). Second, and more importantly, the US spends far more on healthcare than
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3w agoSen. Eric Schmitt says he supports annexing Greenland because Denmark might be run by "radical mullahs" in 50 years
Sailor approaching the Strait of Hormuz speaks for all of us when confronted by yet more US bullshit
So Ukraine is in the process of (rapidly) eradicating an entire mode of transport across multiple Russian (and temporarily occupied) regions, ramping up demand for alternatives during a fuel crisis 👍
@leoskyview.bsky.social · 3w agoIt's even better. Ukraine's drone forces claim to have hit 20 Russian ships tonight. There should be some cool footage.
If this happened in Ukraine Christopher Miller would have already written 5 articles and 10 substacs about Ukrainian paramilitary neo-nazis doing swastika breakdance in public
Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦@reshetz.bsky.social · last mo.
And that the crap now being used to dilute petrol favours old bangers over new and efficient means a country that's lagged will now regress.
(Ben) 本记明@ulyssecolonna.bsky.social · 3w agoOne point this brings to mind is that unlike oil-poor countries which have been developing energy-saving technologies for 50 years, Russia has both an oil-intensive and fairly wasteful economy. The current situation is bound to affect Russia more than it would another country.
Mercy for None + Heroes Next Door = Agent Kim Reactivated
BIM in January the US Congress approved $400m in Ukraine aid almost entirely at the behest of Democrats. By May senators were asking why there was not yet a spending plan having repeatedly asked for one *. So great news, but before any "mercurial" Trump BS, is this the $400m or is it as well as?
UNITED24 Media@united24media.com · 4w ago⚡️ BREAKING: Zelenskyy confirms new US aid package with PAC-3 interceptors. President Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine will receive a new assistance package from the United States in the coming days, including additional PAC-3 interceptors to bolster the country's air defense capabilities.
The cleverest tankie: "It's much more likely to end on the Ukrainian side for economic reasons 'cause they're exhausted. Russia is running a deficit smaller than that of America" (Ones and Tooze podcast, 15/5/26) Internet reply guy: And borrowing costs (and to a lesser extent market liquidity)? *
So all the ships Ukraine struck were small/coastal tankers typically used for short, regional trips, making this part of the Crimean blockade rather than an attack on Russian exports.
ChrisO_wiki@chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 4w ago3/ – Venus III — 6,500 tons of fuel oil; – Sanar-1 — 5,200 tons of gas condensate; – Sanar-17 — 6,000 tons of ship fuel; – Climene — 4,900 tons of fuel oil; – Alexey Savrasov — 6,000 tons of ship fuel; – Penelope — 6,900 tons of fuel oil.
That petrol is cheaper in some stations (those owned by oil majors receive the price dampener) than independent others (40% of the total), also helps explain the queues. Except here there's both a wide margin and a major charging well above the prices being reported elsewhere *
Stanimir Dobrev@delfoo.bsky.social · 4w agoIn Novosibirsk prices of fuel at independent gas stations have started rising rapidly with Ai-95 gasoline being offered at 170 rubles. Even at Tatneft which is a vertically integrated gas station chains prices are up with Ai-92 being offered at 124 rubles per liter.
