Watching Constantine’s Wednesday economic report, he reminded me of of a different aspect of people taking all their money out. When the Russian people know they are about to be fucked by the government, they try to take out as many rubles as possible, and buy euros and American dollars. They know there is a real possibility that rubles will be massively devalued, and you don’t want to be left with rubles in the bank. One, they might create some rule that just takes your money or limits the amount of money you can withdraw. Second, the bank might fail, or if not fail, may simply suspend banking until such time as the central bank gives it more money. Either way the customer has no access to the rubles.
Constantine was contacted by cold call salespeople who thought he still lived in Russia - both a Lada salesman and a real estate agent in Moscow who were desperate to make a sale, offering up to 50% discount on the Lada, and a condo with payments not due until late 2026, with assistance reducing the interest rate of the mortgage if he chose to borrow. One admitted that everyone was going bankrupt and out of business and nobody was buying anything - so now was the time to get the great discounts.
TL;DR - The great Special Operation enshittening is finally affecting every aspect of Russian economic life