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JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Putin proposes setting up 'Eurasian Union'

World Oct. 05, 2011 - 06:43AM JST ( 14 )

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14 Comments

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unreconstructedOct. 05, 2011 - 08:30AM JST

Russia has the same perilously low birthrate found in the cradle-to-grave welfare states of W. Europe.His subjects have chosen obsolescence.
-1

FoxieOct. 05, 2011 - 08:59AM JST

Things in many former Soviet countries aren't going easy. This union is a great idea and would benefit many people. Interestingly, Russia is very different from both developed and developing markets. It is not a developing country in terms of per capita GDP and thus does have a very high growth potential. It is also not facing a sovereign debt crisis, as its current debt level is spectacularly low — about 10 percent of GDP. It is still very dependent on the oil price and therefore should be doing very well given the oil price is above $100 per barrel.

Yet what is most puzzling is that Russia is actually not attracting investment. Starting September 2010, Russia’s capital account became negative rather than positive. It looks like that both Russian and foreign investors prefer not to invest in Russia, and instead pick the United States, despite zero interest rates.
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TheQuestionOct. 05, 2011 - 11:21AM JST

Yet what is most puzzling is that Russia is actually not attracting investment. Starting September 2010, Russia’s capital account became negative rather than positive. It looks like that both Russian and foreign investors prefer not to invest in Russia, and instead pick the United States, despite zero interest rates.

The problem is there isn't much to invest in. Anything worth putting money into is either owned by the state or a company under close state supervision. After the gas...well...I guess the tourism is in alright.

Plus many still remember when the ruble fell off the face of the earth. Investors just don't trust them and honestly, I can see Putin throwing bond holders under the bus if it ever came down to it.
0

JapanGalOct. 05, 2011 - 12:04PM JST

Putin must be studying how successful the European Union has been, hahahhahhahahahahaa
0

LagunaOct. 05, 2011 - 02:46PM JST

A bunch of pseudo-democracies with pseudo-capitalist economies forming a pseudo union with a former pseudo colonizer? Sounds like something China could get into: the Sino-South East Asian union!
-3

just-a-guyOct. 05, 2011 - 05:21PM JST

Putin rebuild the USSR and Medevevedev will rebuild the warsaw pact! Awesome!
-1

shinhiyataOct. 05, 2011 - 08:35PM JST

What a farce. Putin is a classic megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur if he truly believes that this dictator clique is some sort of 'major global player'. Belarus is a polluted economic disaster run by Europe's last true iron-fist dictator. This country is so marginalized that most Europeans don't even know where it is. Kazakhstan is true-to-life as depicted in Borat. Another joke of a resource-rich-oligarch mafioso ruled by a paranoid dictator one-man-show for a government. Nazarbayev is insane and only remains in power because nobody wants the responsibility of cleaning up the nuke test sites and nerve gas weapon dumps. Putin can have these two borscht-banana republics. The world doesn't want them and doesn't need them. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are even worse. Kyrgyzstan doesn't even have an effectively functioning government right now. And since there is no freedom of the press in Dushanbe, all the pipe-dream state propaganda covers up the nightmare reality of this stone-throw from the stone-age hot bed of Islamic militants and Iran supporters. Putin's "Loser Union of Former Loser Soviet Republics of Losers".
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PT24881Oct. 05, 2011 - 09:32PM JST

0 Good Bad JapanGalOCT. 05, 2011 - 12:04PM JST Putin must be studying how successful the European Union has been, hahahhahhahahahahaa

You probably meant Putin must be studying how 'successful' the European Union has been... Was there a genuine EU spirit apart from some greedy ones stretching out hands for subsidies.. who are now jumping up & down for more rescue money to satisfy their recently acquired spending style..
1

PT24881Oct. 05, 2011 - 09:42PM JST

Putin's idea is indeed not really stupid -- after decades of 'honeymoon' with the West especially the U.S., these former USSR states started to realize that the actual benefit gained was limited to a handful of aids in exchange for military bases. Now as the U.S. Budget for these pay-outs is drying up, have to be realistic !

Meantime, Putin's calculations may also targeting at containing the increasing influence of the Chinese in these countries, money talks !
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KonstaOct. 05, 2011 - 09:48PM JST

Putin can be anything, but he is not stupid. His Eurasian Union is purely economical cooperation and nothing like the Union of European Socialist Republics (shortly called the EU), with the common parliament, european comission, money, president and a billion of regulations. Calling him a "loser" and other nonsense doesn't help. He is not a loser. He is extremely capable leader. Unlike, shinhiyata, the US does understand that, when tried to enter the CSTO (the military side of the Eurasian Union):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_Security_Treaty_Organisation

The US was kicked out.
-1

KonstaOct. 05, 2011 - 09:56PM JST

PS. I meant, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), of course:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organisation

to which the CSTO is in agreement with.
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KonstaOct. 05, 2011 - 10:07PM JST

just-a-guyOct. 05, 2011 - 05:21PM JST... Putin rebuild the USSR and Medevevedev will rebuild the warsaw pact! Awesome!

I guess, his intent is to make Russian ruble to be the main local currency in a certain area after the fall of the world dollar system. Something like you were planning to do with Japanese with respect to Asian currency. No Soviet Union intended, thanks God.
-1

shinhiyataOct. 05, 2011 - 10:07PM JST

PT - I'm curious as to what influence Beijing might have over Lukashenko, Nazarbayev, Otunbayeva, or the Muslim Kyrgyz, Kazaks, and Uzbeks??? The only force with increasing influence in central Asia is Iran and radical Islam. And the only force with increasing influence in Belarus is desperation and hopelessness. Russia has nothing of value to offer any of these peoples except the nostalgic order and stability of an authoritarian de-facto police state that is not Sino.
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FlocksamorasOct. 06, 2011 - 06:37AM JST

Putin should be careful as the EU has shown when the poor come round with the begging bowl it's the rich that have to fill it or perhaps i should say comparatively rich as few economies are doing well right now.