I have studied this issue and can say the following. Russia is using the simple and effective tactic of the Italian strike, demanding from Siemens exact compliance with the regulations in the framework of technical work on the maintenance of gas turbines. Those turbos always guzzled oil like grandpa's old pickup truck. But before, Gazprom turned a blind eye to this, but now it doesn't. Because you can't freeze Russian money and talk openly about the economic war between the West and Russia, and at the same time demand uninterrupted supplies of something from Russia. Russia is interested in maintaining the image of a reliable supplier, but only for friendly countries, and not for unfriendly ones. And in order to stop being an unfriendly country for Russia, all economic sanctions against it must be lifted. It seems quite logical.

In Argentina, inflation is 70%, in Turkey 80%, and in the European Union only about 10%. I remember the times in the 1990s, when inflation in Russia was several thousand percent per annum. And nothing - somehow survived. Of course, many Europeans will have to give up their usual level of comfort and consumption, but perhaps it will even benefit them. Strategically important enterprises will take advantage of targeted government assistance, private citizens will receive subsidies to pay utility bills, I am sure that Europe has a margin of safety to survive this winter. It’s a little pitiful for small businesses, all sorts of cafes and restaurants that already receive huge electricity bills that they cannot afford, but such is the life and fate of small businesses - in any cataclysms, they are the first to go under the knife, but the first is then restored.


 

Well, it's nice, at least someone is doing well. I also think that the European Union will be able to cope without the supply of energy resources from Russia and there is no need to dramatize the situation. And if the firewood runs out, you can heat the stoves with books by Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, to spite Putin.

Why invent when Ukraine has more than enough confirmed losses.

Well, I hope this photo of the Ukrainian flag in Vysokopolye justifies the several thousand dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the week of the counterattack on Kherson.

I think it's not only and not even so much in fear. Increasing gas production is expensive; to increase production by one billion cubic meters, an investment of about one billion dollars is needed. Such investments are justified in the case of long-term contracts for the supply of gas, and Europe is not eager to take on long-term obligations.

Yep. Germany was an intermediary and resold gas to neighbors through a virtual or physical reverse, but now this is in the past - Germany itself does not have enough gas in the conditions of the Nord Stream shutdown.

About 70,000 people came out for a three-hour protest against the government in Prague

The organizers criticized high energy prices and the pro-Western course of the current government. They asked their representatives for permission to conclude short-term contracts for the supply of cheap gas and oil.

I have personally tried different strategies regarding the format of working hours and can say the following:
1. The format of office work from 8 am to 17 with a lunch break is quite comfortable if you are lucky with your superiors and have an interest in the subject area. And if you live within walking distance from the office, without spending a lot of time on the road.
2. The format of work from 8 to 23 you work for two days and rest for two days is tiring, the weekly life cycle gets lost and you live half your life at work, if it’s interesting, then not for long and only as an experiment.
3. The format of a flexible free schedule is the most optimal if you are a professional in your field with an expensive hourly rate and can adjust your schedule yourself in a wide range. This path places high demands on hard and soft skills, including the ability to self-organize, but this is exactly what, in my opinion, everyone should strive for in life.
4. I think that machines and mechanisms should work, the whole routine should and will be automated over time. This is not a reason to completely refuse to work right now, at present people work less than a century and a half ago - and in another century and a half, perhaps not 40, but say 16, 8 or even 4 working hours per week will become the new standard. And the rest of the time people can spend as they wish.

I don't think so - because of the same logistical problems. In order to resell Russian gas to the European Union in a democratic package, the intermediary must have some kind of surplus, and no one has such surplus now. Hungary recently agreed with Gazprom on additional gas supplies in the amount of several million cubic meters per day, which will come through the Turkish Stream - and this is perhaps all that the European Union can count on. If Hungary wants to share.

The reality is that Nord Stream 1 is closed for an indefinite period (due to identified malfunctions on the only working Siemens turbine, which are not clear how to fix due to the imposed sanctions), gas from Russia to Europe now flows only through Ukraine and through the Turkish Stream.

It is also realistic that the EU's total gas demand at the end of 2021 was about 550 billion cubic meters per year, with its own production of about 210 billion cubic meters per year (340 billion cubic meters per year the EU imported in total, including about 150 billion cubic meters per year from Russia ). The total capacity of underground gas storage facilities in the European Union is 70 billion cubic meters per year. Everyone has the right to draw their own conclusions.

People will not freeze, but the entire energy-intensive European industry is fucked up.

Джонни, для пассажира который меня типа игнорит, ты слишком часто обо мне вспоминаешь.

Only a part of the EU countries is significantly dependent on energy supplies from Russia, you are right. And this is the part of the European Union with a developed industry that feeds other freeloaders like the Baltics, Greece and Poland.

How many Russians have killed your current style? Why are you not at the front, but here with empty talk?

Lol, seriously? You have a very short memory.

It looks like you have chosen a bad day to start celebrating, today there is mourning in Transcarpathia due to the heavy losses of the 128th mountain assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Johhny, you're deluding yourself. Three days after the start of the counteroffensive, it is already clear that this is an epic fuckup. On the first day, the pro-Ukrainian telegram channels trumpeted the long-awaited victory, and then shut up together, because there are too many photos and videos of evidence to the contrary on the network. A senseless waste of human resources and armored vehicles.

And an unsuccessful attempt to land troops near Energodar on the day the IAEA mission arrived is a separate ёбaный пиздeц.

ps As Carl von Clausewitz said, "military affairs are simple and quite accessible to the sane mind of a person. But it is difficult to fight". Especially against the Russians.

That's better?

How is it going? Or is it a taboo topic in Ukraine now?

Walking in full growth across the pure steppe to certain death is an excellent strategy. Fucking drug addicts.

Strangely, as recently as today I read that India made an impressive breakthrough and GDP growth in the second quarter of 2022 was 13.5%, largely due to oil purchases from Russia at a good discount. From the outside, it looks like India is one of the main beneficiaries of Western sanctions against Russia, although you, of course, know better on the spot.

In Russia, stove heating is quite widespread in rural areas, as the main or backup source of heat. Birch is usually used as firewood in my region and occasionally, about once a month, they heat the stove with aspen to clean the chimney and reduce the risk of fire. Oak and walnut are almost never used as firewood, because these tree species are not common in my region. The main rule for stove heating is that firewood must be dry, ideally you need to store firewood for the next year, and heat the stove with last year's stocks. Damp wood produces little heat and a lot of smoke.

Not quite so, there is also a Turkish stream from Russia to Turkey along the bottom of the Black Sea and further from Turkey to Europe (to Serbia, Hungary, etc.).