Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (189985)	7/18/2022 10:58:39 AM
From: TobagoJack	1 Recommendation Recommended By Secret_Agent_Man Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 218898

(85) bloomberg.com Gazprom Declares Force Majeure on Some European Gas Buyers At least three buyers received the letter dated July 14 Action applies to supplies delivered over the past month Isis Almeida July 18, 2022, 10:23 PM GMT+8 A worker inspects a gas collection point of the Kasimovskoye underground gas storage facility, operated by Gazprom PJSC, in Kasimov, Russia. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg Gazprom PJSC declared force majeure on at least three European gas buyers, a move that may signal it intends to keep supplies capped, according to people familiar with the matter. The Russian gas giant -- which had already been curbing exports to Europe and closed its main pipeline for maintenance earlier this month -- said in a letter dated July 14 that the legal clause applied to supplies over the past month, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Gazprom has been delivering less gas than ordered by customers over the past month, with the company citing problems with turbines at its main pipeline to Europe that ends in Germany. Flows via Ukraine have also declined since one of two main entry points on the border with Russia was shut due to the war. It “does feel like a signal that the low flows could continue for longer than just the scheduled maintenance period,” said Trevor Sikorski, head of natural gas, coal and carbon at Energy Aspects Ltd. Companies usually declare force majeure when an unforeseen event like a fire or natural disaster prevents them from complying with contracts. Triggering the legal cause retroactively is “unusual to say the least,” Sikorski said, adding that he expected European buyers to dispute the notice and seek compensation. Reuters reported the move earlier. Gazprom had no immediate comment. Uniper SE has formally rejected Gazprom’s declaration, saying the claim is unjustified, Handelsblatt reported, citing a Uniper spokesman. Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine started declining in May, when one of the main entry points was closed to ensure safety after forces invaded a key compressor station. Shipments were curbed further last month, with Gazprom citing technical issues with gas turbines, one of which was stranded in Canada following repairs due to sanctions. While Canada has said it will release the part, the move may signal that there’s no chance of the turbine being returned before July 21, when the Nord Stream pipeline is set to start operating again, said Jonathan Stern, a researcher at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. “It may also be that the Russian government is happy to increase the pressure on Europe and is using this technical situation as a pretext for not resuming flows,” he said. Gazprom doesn’t disclose terms of its contracts, but most of its long-term agreements in Europe normally have minimal volumes and maximum volumes it’s obliged to deliver -- per month, a quarter and over a year. European gas prices were little changed. — With assistance by Elena Mazneva (Updates with analyst quote in fourth paragraph.) Sent from my iPad

To: TobagoJack who wrote (189985)	7/20/2022 7:34:49 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 218898

(85) curation of 'news' flow edition.cnn.com Diversity does not always work well rt.com Diversity of Western weapons creates trouble for Ukraine – media The wide variety of weapons systems supplied to Ukraine by the West is proving a “serious challenge” for Kiev, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing US and UK think tanks. While insisting that the weapons are “effective” in the fight against Russia, analysts say the piecemeal delivery of multiple different systems has created a “logistical nightmare” for Kiev. Early on in the conflict, the US and its allies sent Ukraine portable Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank rockets, but quickly depleted their own stocks. In April, the White House announced the first delivery of heavy artillery – M777 towed howitzers – followed by HIMARS multiple rocket launch systems in June. Kiev has so far received M777 guns from the US, Australia and Canada, but also a number of self-propelled systems such as the US M109, the German Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000, France’s Caesar and the Polish Krab, among others. While in theory they all share the same 155-caliber projectiles, things are not so simple in practice. “None of these systems have that much commonality,” Jack Watling of the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank told the Journal. “Ammunition should be interchangeable, etc. But that’s not the case.” US to send more HIMARS to Ukraine Watling co-authored the RUSI report published earlier this month, which argued that the “current approach by which each country donates a battery of guns in a piecemeal way is rapidly turning into a logistical nightmare for Ukrainian forces with each battery requiring a separate training, maintenance and logistics pipeline.” Some of it was based on input from Ukrainian military and intelligence officials. The diverse artillery systems have different ranges, propellant charges, loading mechanisms, spare parts and maintenance requirements, among other things. One example cited was the PzH 2000, which has “specific requirements for loading charges” and takes 40 days of training Ukrainians in how to operate and maintain the dozen or so they’ve received so far. Scott Boston, a senior defense analyst at the US-based RAND Corporation, pointed out other challenges in dealing with Western-made systems. “A lot of the Ukrainian stuff is legacy – 40-year-old vehicles that you fix with a hammer and a wrench, brute force, lubricants and prayer. If you think about how a mechanic fixes a modern consumer automobile – with a hand-held computer that you hook up to read the sensors inside the vehicle – it is going to be different,” he told the Journal, adding that not having spare parts other than what comes in from the West is further complicating matters. Ukraine is effectively suffering from too much diversity of weapons, and RUSI’s Watling has suggested the West should try to limit the number of different systems it’s sending to Kiev. Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.” In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked. You can share this story on social media: