Maximilian Hess

China's energy imports from Russia, volume, 2025 vs 2024

Crude oil -7%
Oil products -24%
Coal -7%
LNG +17%

I guess e.g. imports of Russian crude have hit their ceiling, more or less.

you'd think / hope that the WB freeze would get others to reconsider...

EIB strengthens engagement in Central Asia with new Tashkent office and fresh commitments to sustainable infrastructure The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced a new phase of engagement in Central Asia, confirming the opening of a regional office in Tashkent in early 2026 and signing several Letters of Intent ...

Have any of the official development lenders actually given it a loan though? I have reached out directly to European Investment Bank before too give them my two cents (i.e. run away) but still the "EIB continues to advance its due diligence on the Rogun Hydropower Plant" www.eib.org/en/press/new...

Audit raises lots of financial questions about Tajikistan’s Rogun Dam project Review issues caution about Rogun’s future as ‘going concern.’

Tajikistan's environmentally disastrous dam of corruption, now in its 50th year of construction, reports tens of millions of dollars in losses and hundreds of millions of dollars in 'missing' funds.

Same as it ever was!

eurasianet.org/audit-raises...

EU affirms ‘principles of national sovereignty’ in cautious response to Trump Greenland threats – Europe live European Commission spokesperson also declines to rule on whether US intervention in Venezuela was legal

9/So what is Europe to do? Not this...It has to wake up and understand that an alternative international order is being put on the table. It is not based on rules but hierarchy and extraction. Tepid finger waging will lead to domination.
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

“Socotra’s unique form of statehood requires a reference point to the outside world. The labels attached to it are less important than the reality of preserving it.”

Thank you!

Allowed by the local and Emirati authorities, and yes a Yemeni visa but this is issued by STC Yemeni backed govt so others on mainland wouldn’t recognize it. I communicated via interpreter, and a Socotri who had studied English in UAE and was kind enough to spend week teaching me basics

Fewer than 80 tourists were allowed to visit the island at the time when I went, which was also over the new year

The Socotri Sovereignty Soliloquy Breaking down the borders between state, society, and sovereignty on the island where trees bleed.

Amid reports that ≈400 (!) tourists are stranded on the Yemeni island of Socotra, amid Saudi-UAE proxy fights in Yemen, time to reshare this piece I wrote about visiting the island 4 years ago and what de facto Emirati control means for the place & its inhabitants
inkstickmedia.com/the-socotri-...

He most certainly does not, he has targeted him with collateral damage, Russian drones and missiles have targeted the Ukrainian cabinet of ministers and presidential building, and then there was Odessa attack that targeted Zelensky after Rutte meeting

Im really not sure what your point is, Trump didn’t acknowledge it until after either. Putin has tried to kill Zelensky and will continue to do so regardless of whatever the US does or does not do in Venezuela or most elsewhere

Very much openly on the first day of the invasion, you can find plenty of articles that detail the squad sent to do it and their activities

They have tried that repeatedly and failed

Correct

They had nothing to trade, no ability to support Maduro whatsoever

?

Russian Foreign Ministry statement is out and is extremely soft, calls for “prevention of further escalation and to focus on finding a way to advance through dialogue”.

I’m sure it was, and hardly takes a genius to know that Russian defence treaties mean zero (especially in an area it has no chance of defending). But Russia had been seeking to support maduro in recent days including over ship seizure.

Russia signed a treaty to defend Venezuela just two months ago but its crickets this morning from the Kremlin. Utter humiliation and evidence of just how weak it is globally.

Putin’s retaliation threat over frozen assets rattles EU capitals Italy, Belgium and Austria worry about Russia moving against their companies

Your regular reminder that any Western comopany reporting its assets in Russia as not marked down to 0 for the last 3 years has been essentially defrauding its investors

www.ft.com/content/616d...

Ofc it will be a friend of his who takes over the assets, but if that friend is a non Russian, it’s a relative win (not ideal ofc)

Trump would love a deal and would love to make Putin happy but fundamentally Putin doesnt want a deal. Without it Trump feels forlorn and rejected and will revert to caring about who gets to loot ukraine, who dominates LNG markets, and the Arctic - & on all of those Putin's Russia is a sharp rival

Trump is unqualified for office and clearly loves Putin, i think that Putin is what he seems himself as when he looks in the mirror. but yes, the rosneft and lukoil sanctions are a major step (they have not been rolled back, just deadlines delayed for asset sales, which had happened under Biden too)

US Readies New Russia Sanctions If Putin Rejects Peace Deal The US is preparing a fresh round of sanctions on Russia’s energy sector to increase the pressure on Moscow should President Vladimir Putin reject a peace agreement with Ukraine, according to people f...

Given Putin is obviously going to reject the peace deal (but try and blame it on Kyiv and Europe), more sanctions should be the base case even from the Trump Admin - as I have long argued - rather than the shock so many treated it as in October and will again soon www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The most British way of fighting the British

США снимают санкции с беларусского калия «Мы снимаем санкции, освобождаем заключенных. Мы постоянно говорим друг с другом».

Trump’s Special Representative for Belarus John Coale announced after meeting Lukashenko that Washington will lift sanctions on Belarusian Potash. It’s the second step in the Trump Admin’s easing strategy after sanctions on the airline Belavia were lifted. zerkalo-access.space/news/economi...

Kazakhmys says it will have new controlling shareholder Company ranks 20th in the world in terms of copper concentrate production.

Kazakhmys to be sold, the first potential ding to the major oligarchs outside Nazarbayev family since de-Nazarbayevification? Ogay & Kim the old controlling shareholders are longtime regime insiders, theyre also key stakeholders in the larger KAZ Minerals
www.mining.com/web/kazakhmy...

US allows negotiations on Lukoil's foreign assets until January 17 The United States on Wednesday extended a deadline for negotiations on buying the global assets of Russian oil company Lukoil by a little over a month to January 17.

Trump Admin extends sanctions deadline for sale of Lukoil's foreign assets by just over one month, until 17 January www.reuters.com/business/aut...

US Plans to Mandate Social Media Checks for Visa-Free Visitors The US is proposing that foreign visitors provide their social media history over the last five years to enter the country, including those from Australia, Germany, Japan and the UK who can now enter ...

I see the ‘defenders of free speech’ are hard at work www.bloomberg.com/news/article...