Vladimir Putin’s government has launched an aggressive campaign to nationalize the assets of Konstantin Strukov, one of Russia’s richest men and the owner of the country’s largest gold mining company. The move marks a sharp escalation in the Kremlin’s efforts to extract wealth from within its own elite as the financial toll of the war in Ukraine deepens.
Strukov, whose fortune is estimated at over $3.5 billion, is the founder of Yuzhuralzoloto—a gold empire built over decades with strong ties to the Kremlin. But on July 5, his private jet was grounded by Russian authorities as it prepared to leave for Turkey. His passport was reportedly seized, and the aircraft barred from departing.
The billionaires?
That’s what you get for siding with fascists. People will never learn.
Just like Ancient Rome. The dictator needs cash so he murders the rich people who aren’t his friends and takes their money
tax the rich! (slight /s)
what i’m wondering is:
who exactly wanted this war? i.e., i guess it was not a single-person decision. probably a number of oligarchs are behind it because they think they can profit from either the conflict or the outcome of it.
everybody knows that wars are hella expensive. i guess most wars are decided by economic factors, i.e. who can stay solvent longer. what did the oligarchs think would happen to their wealth due to the war?
Putin’s power draws from his adversaries and foreign policy. He is very weak domestically, mostly at the behest of the oligarchs that run the entire domestic policy show.
Putin muscling around internally usually has to do with the oligarch’s stance on foreign policy or the other oligarchs are wanting to eat one of their own.
The Putin giveth and the Putin taketh away.
Minus the giveth part.
Soon these oligarchs won’t even own a window to jump out of
Tea is cheap.
The government will provide one, they are generous like that.
Our window.
He’ll soon be struck off.
What a great way to show the inefficiency of sanctions! /s
And let this be a lesson to US Billionaires.
If most of them are as smart and lucid as Musk, they won’t learn anything.
US billionaires think they can control Trump, and that’s very likely true. The worst is yet to come for these billionaires when someone who can truly reverse the power dynamics and thus rule them with an iron fist, as well as the common people, takes the throne.
Trump cannot be controlled, everything is purely transactional with him. The moment he gains more from taking businesses by force, thats what he will do.
Trust and deals have no meaning to him. This is a theif without honor.
He can be controlled for as long as you have access. He bends to the will of the nearest person like a weed blowing in the wind.
We should treat him like the threat that he is,an absolute unchecked tyrant.
Somebody didn’t want Rules for Rulers, keep your elite happy or they’ll come together and turn on you.
Fingers crossed.
You remember those old “In Soviet Russia” backwards jokes? It’s like that, but unironically.
Putin has consolidated power to the point that he doesn’t serve at the behest of Russian billionaires; they only exist due to his whims - and they can cease to exist just as quickly.
‘Blowout’ by Rachel Maddow touches on this, it’s an interesting read/listen.
They are refering to a YouTube video I think.
Which references this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dictator's_Handbook
Huh, til
Not if you have a loyal, competent police apparatus to round up anyone who dares to step out of line.
Apparently the FSB is the opposite of the army since he’s still in power.
Strukov is about to suffer the effects of defenestration.
is the defenestration supposed to be a metaphor for something? i.e., they took too many risks and “leaned out the window too far and fell over” or sth 🤔
It’s giving Elon-Trump vibes
Ooooh, gringo broligarchs, cast your eyes upon all the fucks left to give, and see that $Trump wallet may also be empty.
Strukov’s company has denied the incident entirely, stating that he was in Moscow on the day in question and calling the reports “disinformation.” But court documents confirm that a judge had already banned him and his family from leaving the country, and government agencies moved quickly to enforce it.
I will now recommend the Sad Oligarch podcast. Short series on the mysterious deaths of Russian oligarchs in the last few years.
defenestration podcast.
A friend of a friend is the daughter of a Russian oligarch. It was a messy situation in which she was at risk of being drawn into the politics, even though her dad was an asshole who she would’ve been glad to see defenestrated. I only know the surface level info, but it sounds like a fucked up situation in many ways
Hadn’t considered people born into the crosshairs like that. Cheers.
If you nationalize your industry, you should be doing it to reform and re-gear it to support your country.
Clearly, Putin here is not interested in making it good for the country, but that his petty war has him cash-strapped and needs to forcibly ‘borrow’ his billionaire friends’ assets.
