TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2992. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
The Analyst
LUKOIL SANCTION BUSTING CONTINUES WITH UK COMPANY HELP
Twenty five ‘grey tankers’ each of purchased by a separate offshore company, which was linked to one or even several other firms are in fact owned by Lukoil, the Russian oil giant. The ships were previously operated by Dubai-based shell companies owned by a Pakistani shipping magnate, currently facing prosecution in British courts for defrauding investors.
All purchases were financed by Dubai’s Eiger Shipping DMCC, which belongs to Litasco Middle East DMCC, the Middle Eastern branch of Lukoil’s oil trading division. Eiger provided upfront funding by pre-chartering the vessels being prepared for acquisition, making sure they were available and paying in advance, which funded the purchase. Lukoil spent around $700m on the tankers making them around $28m each.
The price underlines their extreme age and poor condition as the scrap value wouldn’t be much less.
Since their purchase, the vessels have been used almost exclusively to transport Russian oil, with 82% of the shipments being Lukoil oil, totalling around 119 million barrels. At $60 per barrel, this amounts to nearly $7.2 billion.
Yet again a UK company has been a key player in this deliberate sleight of hand by Lukoil to cover its tracks. British accountant John Ormerod who owns Ormerod Allen & Co., has provided financial services to the shipping industry since 1990. It seems unlikely that a company with such experience and understanding of the market would have had no idea of who they were likely dealing with.
The Russian shadow fleet consists of more than 400 tankers. Despite increasing efforts by Western countries to target individual vessels through sanctions, oil companies shield them behind so many shell firms that it is extremely difficult to prove their connection to Russia.
The fleet is old and dangerous representing a serious accident and environmental threat around the world, and without it Russia would be crippled. The need to add additional tankers isn’t connected to the amount of oil being sold as much as it represents a huge pool of crude storage capacity - so that Russia doesn’t have to cut production.
The tankers leave Russia more often than not without a buyer for the crude they carry - then spot deals are made as they sail around the worlds oceans. The longer they spend at sea the price drops until someone buys it. They then unload and head home for a reload. Sometimes the tankers sit about off various countries that have been previous buyers just waiting for a deal to be made. Singapore, China and India, as well as many others, have used this to get crude at knock down prices, but the Russians eventually don’t care as long as they get something for it.
This trade is the lifeblood of the Russian war effort - every country that participates has blood on its hands but they just don’t care.
The Kremlin did not deny its readiness to fight for North Korea
Russia and the DPRK will cooperate in the military sphere and ensure each other's security within the framework of the treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership, said the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov. "The wording in the treaty does not need clarification, it is quite unambiguous," Peskov said, answering a question from journalists about whether Russia could, under the agreement, side with the DPRK in the event of a military conflict on the Korean Peninsula (quoted by Interfax). According to him, Moscow and Pyongyang intend to be guided by the principles of this treaty in the further development of relations.
The day before, on October 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted to the State Duma a bill on ratification of the agreement between Russia and the DPRK on a comprehensive strategic partnership. Putin and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un signed the document in June of this year. It consists of 23 articles and de facto implies a military alliance.
In particular, Article 4 of this agreement stipulates that “if one of the parties finds itself in a state of war due to an armed attack by one or more states, the other party will immediately provide it with military assistance by all means available to it in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter and the laws of the DPRK and the Russian Federation.”
🇰🇵 President Zelensky announced the "de facto inclusion" of North Korea in the war against Ukraine.
"One of the main points was the intelligence report on Russian intentions for the fall and winter. Everything is quite detailed, including the de facto involvement of North Korea in the war. We also discussed Russia's relations with other countries that, unfortunately, are investing in prolonging the war," Zelensky stated.
▪️According to Zelensky, Russia is already incorporating North Korean military personnel into its forces.
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A very young Putin tells that it's absolute nonsense that Russia wants Crimea
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🇨🇿 Czech Republic has spent over €7 billion on Russian oil and gas — more than five times the €1.29 billion it has provided in aid to Ukraine, according to Politico.
After Russia's invasion, the EU granted the Czech Republic an exemption to continue importing Russian oil while it sought alternative fuel routes. In 2024, the country remains 50% dependent on Russian oil, despite having the capacity to fully eliminate this reliance.
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Putin is proposing to the Russian State Duma to ratify a partnership treaty with North Korea that includes military assistance in the event one of the parties faces an armed attack
Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed this treaty back in June. The treaty will come into effect once both parties exchange ratification documents.
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Rest in Peace Nick
An American volunteer medic, Nick Duckworth, was killed in the Pokrovsk sector
Nick started volunteering in Ukraine in early 2022. He began by evacuating civilians from contested areas, totaling nearly 3000 evacuations. He joined the 16th brigade of the Ukrainian army in late 2023 as a combat medic and was defending the Pokrovsk direction.
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Eternal Memory
Ukrainian ballet dancer Artem Kolbasynskyi, 24, killed fighting Russian forces.
Former member of Klaipeda Music Theater in Lithuania, he left his career in 2022 to defend Ukraine, saying, “I must return to defend my homeland.”
He is one of 123 artists killed in war.
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🇨🇿The Czech Republic is reinstating its ambassador to Moscow after nearly a three-year hiatus, appointing former Deputy Defense Minister Daniel Koštoval to the position.
“The key countries that are strategic allies of the Czech Republic – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, and the United States – have their ambassadors in Russia. I wish the ambassador much strength in this challenging mission,” said Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský.
Diplomatic tensions between the Czech Republic and Russia have persisted since 2021 when Czech intelligence revealed that Russian agents were involved in the 2014 ammunition depot explosions in Vrbětice.
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We pulled the washer out of the cubby hole and the shipping bolts were not in there. I suspect the guys who delivered it removed them. We had to replace the water hoses. The old washer had non standard hoses. He is using it now washing load after load.
We pulled the washer out of the cubby hole and the shipping bolts were not in there. I suspect the guys who delivered it removed them. We had to replace the water hoses. The old washer had non standard hoses. He is using it now washing load after load.
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2992. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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