On Konstantin’s Wednesday economy round up he mentioned that one of the gas station chains not having gas in the Moscow area belongs to one of the largest petroleum companies in Russia.
He said what concerned the citizens was that this particular company was one of the largest in Russia, with vast wealth, its own oil drilling/production, and its own gasoline refineries to process its own oil into gas. It then sells its own gas in its own gas stations. When that company’s gas stations are out of gas, the drivers think, “Holy shit, if that company’s station is out of gas, things are seriously much worse!”
He also reminded us that every business that fails that owes money to the bank requires that bank to pull money out of its reserves to satisfy the loan default on its books. He thinks that banks are literally hemorrhaging their reserves right now, and that the Russian cultural propensity for its citizens who have learned that it is smart to engage in bank runs to protect their assets should just about be upon us - and to watch for it.
Older Soviet citizens knew when shit was about to hit the fan, one had to take everything you owned and convert it from rubles into dollars or Euros. or at minimum, clean out your bank deposits and purchase something that had value to you. Something like non-perishable food - or electronics and appliances - things that were always scarce and would increase in value - so that when you came out on the other end, you still owned things that had the same or greater value then the now discounted rubles.
Bank runs…