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McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

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Re: McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

#371

Post by AltruisticGapHN »

pm90 wrote: post #162
AltruisticGapHN wrote: post #149

Wow thatt's pretty rough. Just recently I saw some old footage of when Russia opened to the West and all those 90's kids in Russia going to the first Mc Donalds opening there. Then again McDonalds is a good example of a lot of things that are just plain wrong about western culture... so no loss for Russia I guess.

McDonalds in non US countries is often very different from the US. Its still probably not the healthiest option, but it operates in a different market segment.

It makes sense that they adapt the menu slightly for each demographic. Also that they need to source meat etc in a competitive way, not from across another continent so just by that mere fact it may be slightly better (I think I'm not mistaken that US has really refined meat production to the extreme...).

Re: McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

#372

Post by lotusmars »

roguas wrote: post #351
rightbyte wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have seen a lot of people write this but I don't understand how. Shouldn't there be a black market rate in that case? Is there one? Some quick Googling gave no articles.

I am almost sure there is such market. If you visit Russia somehow, you are likely to exchange currency with citizen at beneficial rates. Chances are its very similar to pre iron curtain fall - people made fortunes in Poland on such exchanges. Same thing in Cuba, there were two currencies - one local, one for internationals(unsure how it is now).

No, Moscow is fine and you can buy foreign currency freely now. This is a delusion based on Western politians' loud promises which never came true. We were promised crushing sanctions that would reduce Russian economy to 1980's style rubble with black market of foreign currencies. It's all just a load of hype. It's important to set this clear because most of HN commenters seems to be under impression those sanctions actually had intended effect.

Re: McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

#373

Post by rasz »

lotusmars wrote: post #372
roguas wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am almost sure there is such market. If you visit Russia somehow, you are likely to exchange currency with citizen at beneficial rates. Chances are its very similar to pre iron curtain fall - people made fortunes in Poland on such exchanges. Same thing in Cuba, there were two currencies - one local, one for internationals(unsure how it is now).

No, Moscow is fine and you can buy foreign currency freely now. This is a delusion based on Western politians' loud promises which never came true. We were promised crushing sanctions that would reduce Russian economy to 1980's style rubble with black market of foreign currencies. It's all just a load of hype. It's important to set this clear because most of HN commenters seems to be under impression those sanctions…

Can you buy a new car with all this money?

Re: McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

#374

Post by The_Colonel »

dotancohen wrote: post #334
The_Colonel wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for repeating Russian propaganda word for word. In reality, Ukraine was nowhere close to entering NATO. Not in 2014, not in January 2022. This wasn't (exclusively) about NATO, but about the gradual general Ukrainian drift towards the west and its institutions. Russia wouldn't be satisfied with Ukraine not entering NATO, it would require returning back into the Russian sphere of influence as its puppet state. >…

> Thanks for repeating Russian propaganda word for word. > In reality... So, you are completely disregarding Russia's point of view, even though they stated it clearly, and are substituting your own interpretation of events. What makes you think that you understand Russian motivations any more than Russia itself? From Russia's point of view, NATO is encroaching. How blind must one be to disregard that?

Yes, I am completely disregarding Russian propaganda talking points. Remember how all the way up to February 23rd Russian Foreign Ministry maintained that the West is hysterical and obviously there won't be any invasion?

> From Russia's point of view, NATO is encroaching.

So again, how does Ukraine fit into that when Ukraine was nowhere near being admitted to NATO?

Re: McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

#376

Post by thereddaikon »

vetinari wrote: post #242
thereddaikon wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What changed here of course is that after Putin gave Aeroloft the go ahead to seize aircraft they were leasing, western business lost any appetite for the Russian market. When your assets can be taken over at any moment and its encouraged by the state, its best to cut your losses. A similar but more drastic example are the various communist revolutions in the 20th century. It was standard practice for the new governm…

Do not forget that there was a wave of seizures of russian-owned assets in the west. I would not be surprised, if Aeroflot still had to pay the leases they owe, but the proceeds would be paid to subjects who had their assets seized abroad. Until it evens out 1:1.

I could be mistaken but with the exception of Germany seizing the gazprom terminal, I think all of the other seizures have been to specifically sanctioned individuals. Of course in Russia they have a oligarchy so they probably see sanctioning a person the same as sanctioning a company.

Re: McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

#377

Post by vetinari »

thereddaikon wrote: post #376
vetinari wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do not forget that there was a wave of seizures of russian-owned assets in the west. I would not be surprised, if Aeroflot still had to pay the leases they owe, but the proceeds would be paid to subjects who had their assets seized abroad. Until it evens out 1:1.

I could be mistaken but with the exception of Germany seizing the gazprom terminal, I think all of the other seizures have been to specifically sanctioned individuals. Of course in Russia they have a oligarchy so they probably see sanctioning a person the same as sanctioning a company.

There is no such thing as a yacht owned by a person; even if you wanted to operate some small one, you would create SPE (=special purpose entity, i.e. a company) for it. So they were owned by companies. Yachts are operated as businesses, especially larger ones.

And it is not just about yachts and airplanes. There were freezed accounts in usd and eur, i.e. the primary motivator for switching sale of oil and gas to rubles. These were owned by companies too.

So in this regard, there's no difference. The famous Bismarck quote about Russians comes to mind.

Re: McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

#378

Post by trasz »

watwut wrote: post #207
trasz wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is China even remotely similar to an aggresive fascist state of Russia? (And can't help but notice this account has been created less than one hour ago)

China has been accused of genocide against Uyghur last year. But, they are not not expanding.

And US has invaded Middle East, which was ethically orders of magnitude worse. So what?

Re: McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

#379

Post by trasz »

inawarminister wrote: post #358
trasz wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is China even remotely similar to an aggresive fascist state of Russia? (And can't help but notice this account has been created less than one hour ago)

Oh, unlike what talking heads in your TV claims, China is much more of an enemy to the "Free World" (American Empire) than Russia is... But they are still fighting in the economic and cultural sphere, for now.

China is an economic enemy, not a military one.

Re: McDonald’s to Exit from Russia

#380

Post by trasz »

throw-ru-938 wrote: post #163
trasz wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's artificially held high by Russian central bank. That's why Russians are not allowed to buy USD or gold.

Russians are in fact allowed to buy USD (provided the bank actually has the physical dollar notes). The earlier prohibition on buying foreign currency has been relaxed.

They aren’t. They can buy virtual USD, but can only physically withdraw up to $10k per year. And if they receive USD, they are required by law to deposit 80% of it within three days.
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