Gas Prices = Indirect Warfare

[LongBlade]

It's working.

Russia is lining up seven major state companies, including Aeroflot, Alrosa, the diamond miner, and Rosneft, for potential privatisation as the Kremlin debates drastic options to replace dwindling oil revenues.

The decision to consider the first such comprehensive push in years comes as the latest slide in crude prices is expected to drive Russia into a second year of recession and has ripped a gaping hole in its budget.

Moscow has continuously sold small state company stakes over the years, but progress has slowed since Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency in 2012. Memories of the privatisation wave with which Russia's liberal economic policymakers tried to force a transition from the Soviet economy in the 1990s remain traumatic as it vastly enriched a small number of people, creating the country's oligarch class.

The heads of Alrosa, Rosneft and fellow oil company Bashneft, Russian Railways, state bank VTB, Aeroflot and Russia's largest shipbuilding company Sovcomflot were summoned on Monday to a meeting where Mr Putin discussed privatisation plans for this year with his economic team.

source: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/34acde08-c905-11e5-be0b-b7ece4e953a0.html

[OJsDad]

They'll just nationalize them again when they think they can afford to. 

[JasonPratt]

A cousin of mine works for Boeing, and has been moved to statistical analyst for the marketing department of the division that sells planes and things to Russia. He couldn't talk about it much, but I was surprised Russia bought much of anything from Boeing at all.

[GDS_Starfury]

well they want to buy things that work.   

[OJsDad]

Aeroflot flies 25 Boeing aircraft, as do a number of their subsidiaries. 

[JasonPratt]

well they want to buy things that work.   

Pretty much. And maybe reverse engineer it.

It isn't a huge market by any means -- that's China and Southeast Asia more generally.