Russian energy giant Gazprom has announced the suspension of natural gas supplies to the EU via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, for an indefinite period,
The world has been expecting this as the war in Ukraine moves into the injury time. But no one has predicted with high confidence that Russia would strike this early with its gas. Yes, Russian energy giant Gazprom has announced the suspension of natural gas supplies to the EU via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, for an indefinite period, due to technical malfunctions.
Last week, I read a piece where Russia was worried that it had so much money that it needed to slow the appreciation of its currency, and the only way to do that was to buy other currencies. I even suggested buying Nigerian naira. Typically, because of sanctions, Russia’s balance of payment became exceedingly favorable (you export so much and import largely nothing) heating up the currency, ruble, which has appreciated in recent weeks.
With so much money in the bank, it now wants to do a killer: freeze export of gas to Germany and the broad EU indefinitely. Global leaders just finished a meeting with a plan to cap the price of Russian oil. Now that Russia is showing that it can live without even supplying hydrocarbons, a new playbook would be needed. This is a consequential move that can push Europe into recession, and Africa may not be spared. An adult needs to lead right now in our world - the global economy is at risk!
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