The mind is still dominated by the images of the Easter brunch, the Easter menu or the walks in the park, when the bad habit of crisis news from the East pushes back into consciousness. The head of the central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, makes it clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s imperialist dreams have little substance.
The Russian economy cannot live off its financial reserves forever and must reposition itself, the expert demands. She announces a search for new business models. So far, the sanctions have primarily weighed on the financial market, “but now they will increasingly affect the economy.” Inflation is 17.5 percent, the key interest rate is 17 percent. The major US bank JP Morgan is already assuming that gross domestic product could shrink by 20 percent in the second quarter. And: Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin fears a loss of 200,000 jobs in the Russian capital.
In view of this increasingly difficult domestic political situation, Putin needs rapid success with the offensive in eastern Ukraine in the beginning of the second phase of the war.
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“We can now say that the Russian forces have started the battle of Donbass, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “A very large part of the entire Russian army is now used for this offensive. “
You will defend yourself and not give up. Fighting also continued in Mariupol, a city that once had a population of more than 400,000.
Putin apparently hopes that an award for the 64th motorized infantry brigade will have a motivating effect: by presidential decree, it receives the honorary title of “Guards”, which is justified by “heroism and bravery, determination and courage”. This is the very brigade accused by Ukraine and independent observers of war crimes and mass killings of civilians in the city of Bucha.
Conclusion: massacres are currently honorable in Russia.
The old favorite phrase of all procrastinators – “Talk is silver, silence is golden” – does not apply in such conflicts. Silence signals insecurity. And the more the Ukraine war escalates, the more enraptured a silent chancellor seems, who thought he could stem the criticism by paying an additional two billion euros.
“More money is not yet the solution, but it is a very important step because it is a prerequisite for Kyiv to buy heavy weapons,” says Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), Chairwoman of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee. Now Olaf Scholz has to make the necessary arrangements with Ukraine “at lightning speed”: “It would be nice if he would then break his silence and explain what he actually wants.”
Green Party politician Anton Hofreiter and CDU foreign policy officer Norbert Röttgen also insist on the delivery of heavy weapons. “The truth is: Chancellor Olaf Scholz doesn’t want that and he’s trying to prevent it with tricks,” says Röttgen.
Scholz’s reaction? It comes from a dizzy height: “It is quite clear that in such a situation someone will always speak up and say: ‘I want things to go in this direction, and that is leadership.’ … I have to say to some of these boys and girls: Because I don’t do what you want, that’s why I’m in charge.” For the deserved liberal Strack-Zimmermann, “girl” should be a dubious compliment.
>> In view of the situation in Mariupol and other cities, Ukrainian President Zelensky is again calling for more military aid. We are interested in your opinion: Should Germany supply heavy weapons to Ukraine? Is the reserved Olaf Scholz pursuing the right strategy? Or is the criticism from some politicians in the Greens and the FDP justified? Write us your opinion in five sentences [email protected]. We will publish selected articles with attribution on Thursday in print and online.
(Photo: DPA)
When it comes to Russia and Gazprom, Eon boss Leonhard Birnbaum formulates a few general principles. We have learned in recent weeks “that strategic dependencies can be problematic” and that we “didn’t have security of supply on the radar enough,” he says. Eon has just pushed the Gazprom project Nord Stream 1 as a 15 percent shareholder. Regarding such accusations, Birnbaum said in an interview with the Handelsblatt that we could dare to import Russian gas in the 1970s “because we had many alternatives, i.e. we couldn’t be blackmailed”.
However, these alternatives were gradually switched off. The EU was not willing to finance alternative gas pipeline projects. In this “blame game” attempt, it is a little lost that Eon was very happy with the cheap energy from Russia and brought nice profits. Birnbaum definitely wants to stick with Nord Stream 1. In the event of a withdrawal, Gazprom would have sole control of the pipeline – “and that’s no use to anyone”.
At the auto supplier Mahle from Stuttgart, the CEO post continues to be like an ejection seat. The Swabians dismissed CEO Matthias Arleth with little style on Good Friday after only three months. It was the third departure in four years.
The trail leads to the head of the supervisory board, Heinz Junker, 72, who was head of Mahle himself for 18 years and was then promoted to chief controller without a cooling-off. The structure in this case favors egomania. While a charitable foundation holds 99.9 percent of the capital, all voting rights are held by the Association for the Promotion and Advice of the Mahle Group eV (Mabeg). Junker is the boss of the top seven Mabeg club members. Under the powerful senior, the “Professor”, CFO Michael Frick is now allowed to look after things right at the top for the second time on an interim basis.
Gas guzzlers have never been a problem for Americans. But now the high prices at the gas stations are acting like an economic stimulus package for electric cars. The result: In the fourth quarter of 2021, their sales grew by eleven percent. The preferred models come from the top dog Tesla, but niche players such as the Danes from Henrik Fisker also see opportunities: There are 40,000 reservations for the “Fisker Ocean”.
According to the latest surveys, one in four US car buyers is considering purchasing an electric or hybrid vehicle for the first time. And at car shows, the curious crowd around electric pickups from Ford and General Motors. This revolution, that’s for sure, is coming along quietly.
Private equity firm Apollo Global Management appears in the Twitter takeover battle. Apparently she wants to finance a takeover of the short message service by the management or individuals, but not appear in a consortium. That should be a difficult variant, because Twitter had a negative cash flow in 2021, i.e. “burns” money that is not available for investments.
The Twitter board of directors rejected the $43 billion takeover bid by major shareholder Elon Musk and responded with “poison pills”. In turn, the Tesla boss only tweeted “Love Me Tender”. Apparently he uses the Elvis Presley song title to express his desire to make an offer directly to the shareholders: “Love me tender, love me sweet / Never let me go”.
And then there is an advertising banner in the Bielefeld soccer stadium that got into the big political spotlight. “Stop War, Putin!” It said on Easter Sunday when Arminia lost 3-0 to record champions Bayern Munich. We don’t know what would have happened if it had read: “Stop Special Operation, Putin!” However, the Russian Bundesliga licensee MatchTV ended the transmission after almost 30 minutes. “Football and sport are apolitical,” proclaimed the broadcaster. Two weeks ago, two broadcasts were canceled because of such peace slogans in stadiums.
The MatchTV shutdown series disenchanted the German Football League (DFL), which stuck to the contract with MatchTV in order to “reach the people of Russia with messages of peace from the stadiums”. The English Premier League or Ligue 1 from France, on the other hand, immediately suspended their contracts for broadcasts in Russia.
Here’s how we think about William Faulkner at the final whistle: “What you call the blindness of fate is really just your short-sightedness.”
It greets you cordially
Her
Hans Jürgen Jakobs