there have always been good reasons to doubt the success of the Istanbul “peace talks” between Russia and Ukraine. Now Russian President Vladimir Putin is declaring the “planned” progress of the “military special operation” as if it were a matter of “steady hand policy”. The previous actions had served to “tie forces, inflict damage and destroy military infrastructure” – and to become all the more active in the Donbass region.
The fact that more than 150 employees of the FSB secret service are said to have been fired because of bad information about Ukraine does not quite fit with the plan. And it should also be painful for Putin that his best Ukrainian friend Viktor Medvedchuk, 67, was arrested while trying to escape – and was presented online in military uniform and in handcuffs. The politician is said to have been the covert owner of three pro-Russian television channels in Ukraine.
In the friend-enemy mentality that such a war entails, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier falls into the “enemy” category for Kyiv. Now the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is receiving the heads of state of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, but he invited the German who was originally planned for this entourage as “not wanted”.
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The melody was given by Ukraine’s ambassador in Berlin a few days ago. The former head of the chancellery of Putin friend Gerhard Schröder and ex-foreign minister had “made a spider’s web of contacts with Russia for decades,” it said. Selenski invites Chancellor Olaf Scholz instead, who is not at all unchoosy.
Yesterday, three prominent traffic light politicians came to beautiful Lemberg, for whom Scholz seems too hesitant on the issue of arms deliveries: Michael Roth (SPD), Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) and Anton Hofreiter (Greens).
The French writer André Gide recalled the law of life in such difficult cases, according to which another door opens when the door in front of us is about to close. The tragedy, however, is “that one looks at the closed door and ignores the open one”.
In the Schleswig-Holstein state election campaign yesterday, Tuesday, CDU leader Friedrich Merz, 66, made a flying visit. He visited a research facility and then drove to campaign events in Pinneberg and Norderstedt. No other large-scale operations with him are planned. The campaign is entirely geared towards his party friend, Prime Minister Daniel Günther, 48. It’s way ahead in the polls.
Too much federal CDU can only do harm, and Günther could finally recommend himself for higher tasks after Merz with a self-made election triumph in Kiel. He showed the necessary mixture of diplomacy and humor on Saturday in the “taz” interview. When asked about his relationship with Merz, which had been distanced for years, he only said: “We both developed further as we got older.”
Britain experienced an orgy of apologies and calls for his resignation last night. The reason: “Partygate”. The London Metropolitan Police (Met) had sent 50 penalties to members and government employees. At 15 events in 2020 and 2021, they themselves did not comply with the corona rules that they had strictly prescribed for the people. The fine is 100 pounds (120 euros).
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and wife Carrie Johnson had to pay, as did Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, the Crown Prince. Basically, the entire political leadership has morally discredited itself. Sky News writes: “The Met fired two rockets at Downing Street.” But Boris Johnson is refusing to resign and affirming: “I want to tackle the country’s problems.”
The question remains: What if he himself is perhaps the biggest problem?
In the twelve-brand realm of Volkswagen, there is one member that, unlike the others, has recently been in the red: Seat from Spain. Now the loss-maker is apparently being completely cut off from the future business of electromobility, according to a report by our company department. Only the sister brand Cupra is allowed to present beautiful new e-models.
“The sustainable future of our company is very much related to the growth of Cupra,” says Seat boss Wayne Griffiths, and: “We see our new brand as a lever to increase profitability.”
Seat works council chief Matias Carnero can already hear the death knell ringing and protests to VW boss Herbert Diess: “No one understands that you are letting a brand with a 60-year history die. Seat means the same to Spain as Volkswagen to Germany.” Absolutely correct, but the world looks different from Wolfsburg than from Barcelona.
You could call it “backwards integration” or simply life insurance for all the planned electric cars: More and more car companies are making direct deals with raw material mines. According to our information, General Motors concluded a multi-year supply contract with the raw materials company Glencore, which intends to supply the battery metal cobalt from its Australian mine.
The rapidly rising raw material prices are also forcing other car manufacturers to enter into such agreements. Tesla is cooperating with the Brazilian mining group Vale on nickel, Toyota is involved in a lithium mine and VW is working with Chinese companies on raw material production. Nickel and cobalt from Indonesia are to be organized in two joint ventures.
The sale of more than five percent of the shares in Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank by the US wealth manager Capital Group looks like an escape. The fund company probably bet on the rising prices of the bank stocks that had previously been beaten down – and actually made a profit with the transaction.
Unlike before, by the way, the US company Cerberus, which also attracted attention at both German financial institutions with large sales, which had speculated on a merger of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank.
The stock exchange was not interested in such differences: Deutsche Bank lost almost eleven percent at times yesterday, Coba around ten percent. Charles Baudelaire is recommended to those who doubt Capital Group’s PR strategy: “For a businessman, even honesty is financial speculation.”
And then there is Jamie Dimon, 66, who has headed the largest US bank, JP Morgan, without interruption since 2005. A securities prospectus makes it clear that for the banker with Hollywood charm, unlike in similar cases, it is not so easy to call it a day.
Rather, a “substantial majority” of investors want Dimon to remain with the company as a non-executive chairman. This would mean the end of the “imperial CEO” prominently in “Corporate America” as found at Goldman Sachs, Bank of America or Morgan Stanley. Everywhere it is common for the CEO to also serve as president.
Now it is said that investors wanted a stronger counterweight against the CEO. Dimon would go first. Incidentally, he recently told us what the four most important leadership qualities are that he looks for in every job interview: “Modesty, fairness, authenticity and openness.” So far, there has been little hint of modesty in Dimon’s career.
In all humility, I wish you an inspiring and productive day.
It greets you cordially
Her
Hans Jürgen Jakobs