Year: 2010

Looks like I made another successful visa trip to Kiev, Ukraine. The only surprise was how cold Kiev was and how bad the roads where in Kiev. I took some pictures of the streets in Kiev and they show that most streets that I encountered, where nothing but deep rutted ice trails. The ice was a good 6 to 7 inches thick and the cars had cut a path through the ice all the way to the pavement. Everyone traveled in these ruts. I heard many cars scraping bottom all the time. Lets look at some of those pictures:

I also tried to walk the normal sidewalks and that proved to be a mistake. I fell 4 times and gave up on sidewalks. I walked along the river to get to my hotel and had many less problems. Lets look at some of those pictures:

So That is all in this post. Next post is about getting a visa for Russia in Ukraine.

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Hello Everyone,

Looks like I will be busy for the next few days on a visa run to Ukraine. So, “God willing and the creek don’t rise!” I will be back around Tuesday of next week.

I will at that time have an update on visa issues and such.

Thanks to all my readers and see you Tuesday…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Russia warns against rushing to Iran sanctions | Reuters:

“Russia on Friday cautioned world powers against rushing toward sanctions to punish Iran for spurning a U.N.-brokered proposal to send its uranium abroad for processing.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Tehran to work constructively to allay Western fears over its nuclear program but said world powers should take a sober approach and beware of pushing Iran into a corner.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Tehran to work constructively to allay Western fears over its nuclear program but said world powers should take a sober approach and beware of pushing Iran into a corner.

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Like I said we are not very wild but we had fun. Every once in awhile I like to post pictures in Windows to Russia instead of the Photo Blog. So now you have seen a little more of Russia that you have not seen before…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Something that you will not hear much of and you should be hearing is:

Russia’s foreign exchange reserves were evenly split between dollar and euros. This is the third largest reserves in the world and Russia has gone from heavy in the dollar to equal percentages in a very short time. That should be an attention grabber but if that is not enough…

Russia announced yesterday in the news, that Russia will be buying Canadian dollars and securities in a bid to diversify its foreign exchange reserves, to an even greater extent. Talk is in the air about purchasing Australian currency to help buffer against the dying dollar…

Now do not take my word or Russia’s word – Take the word of Financial Times! Read the article here that I found after the announcements in the last few days.

Russia has been busy for months and so has China. They are trying to get ahead of the upcoming dollar crash that I have talked about on several occasions in a few of my blogs. In fact many countries have already begun trading the dollar off especially in the Asian area. This is well hidden in the Western news but just look around and you will see how America is having to purchase her own debt:

This past year the Fed bought 80% of new government debt or $1.2 trillion worth as foreigners bought only $300 billion worth. To think this program will end is pure folly. There will be no one to buy the debt, which grows larger with each minute. Deficits will run more than $1.5 trillion a year as far as the eye can see. Revenues continue to fall and spending to rise. Foreigners are dumping dollars not accumulating them. Worse yet many other nations have similar problems. They have to raise money as well. Who will accommodate them? We are talking $10 trillion alone for the G20 countries, some of which are on the edge of bankruptcy. Then again where will the money come from to bail out the likes of California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, etc.? There just isn’t enough money to go around. The Fed has to increase printing money and issuing credit; there is no other choice short of economic collapse. The price to be paid for this Keynesian profligacy is hyperinflation and you can be sure it is already in the money pipeline. (Link)

So once again lets wait and see what happens as the future unfolds. But my thoughts are falling into the “Buy Gold and Silver!”

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

In Russia the issue today is “Poland to place American missiles at Russian border.”

Kaliningrad houses the Russian Baltic Fleet at the port of Baltiysk and is Russia’s only European ice-free port. So is it important? Yes! Is it Russia? Yes! Is Poland putting some form of missile within a Hundred Kilometers of it? Yes! Is America involved? Yes! Does it all make sense? No!

In Russia the American donut producer, Dunkin’ Donuts, has franchised its brand to a Russian company which plans to open ten locations this year (2010) in Moscow. Looks like Burger King is not the only company that sees money in the Russian financial system.

The chain will be open in various formats, from full-fledged freestanding stores to attached mini-cafes and they say that the investment into each location is going to be around six million roubles each.

This is a reattempt as originally there was a failure with Dunkin’ Donuts back around 1996. It seems that Russia was not ready for Dunkin’ Donuts…

Do you think that Russia is ready for Dunkin’ Donuts?

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comments always welcome.

and…

I really was wondering what Moscow did with all the snow that they loaded up in dump trucks. All over the city you can see thousands of dump trucks and loaders 24 hours a day hauling snow.

January has been a very busy month here in Russia and I have to apologize for a slow down in posting. What with New years , Christmas, my birthday and several important business engagements, I have not been able to keep up. To top the list at the end of this week I have to travel to Kiev, Ukraine for my visa trip.