Kadyrov’s Nephew Loots Danone’s Russian Assets to Become Overnight Billionaire

Russia launched the largest European land war since WWII. Did they think there'd be no repercussions?

I don't know the actual interest rates there, but they are definitely much higher than the rates in developed countries. The instability and inflation mean that the rates have to be high, otherwise no one would lend money. 

This is not unusual in countries with weaker currencies. Right now I get 12 - 14 % on some simple savings on the Colombian peso ( which considering how well it has done against the USD on the last year ) has been a pretty good investment.

Interest rates are pretty high in Russia, war spending is very inflationary for an economy.

The Russian central bank *lowered* their core interest rate to 15% in March. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/03/20/russian-central-bank-lowers-key-rate-to-15-a92278 Interest rates (and inflation) have been very high in Russia since they invaded Ukraine.

Since the start of 2024 until now, interest rates for Russian bank deposits were between 14% and 22%. (source: first link on Google) With lower interest rates nobody would ever put their money into banks, as they'd just be losing money because of inflation. So people would buy more stable currencies instead as a form of "investment". Which is not good for economy. Turns out starting a senseless war and getting smacked back with drones is not great for economy haha.

Inflation….

Because inflation is also very high. 

It’s Russia. They have insane inflation caused by war and with inflation interest rates follow.

It was a very interesting banking arrangement.

Interest rate went as high as 24% roughly 2 years ago. Made some good money as the exchange rate stabilized too

Same. Couple scoops of greek yogurt and some frozen berries? Granola? Maraschino cherries? Lots of options and c****/healthy (mostly).

> money is easy to put in Ah, I see what you did here.

The same people that grew up with the red scare and being told Russia was our mortal enemy are now cozied up with them, it breaks my brain.

Perhaps "aligned" with the West is too strong, but during his first years Putin was making a lot of good noises regarding collaboration with Europe. There were quite a few years of peace and trade between Russia and the West, and while I don't think they were ever seen as an ally, they weren't regarded as an adversary for anyone but the most h******* of US military hawks. It makes sense that companies thought it was safe to invest there. But yeah, ultimately you're right. Russia was never aligned with the West and never will be. I hope our politicians have learned this lesson.

I don’t know, Yeltsin, for all his faults, seems to genuinely give it a shot.

Actual Russia was - well, most of the time. The time it wasn't, it got the humiliating Crimean war.  Whatever is called "Russia" these days is just a diminished USSR with a new paint job and the same rotten elites.  Edit: spelling 

Well, the rest of the west also considered and treated USA as part of the west, but we now see their true colors on display...

>Russia was never aligned with the West and never will be. When Chechens were exploding the buildings in Moscow they were called "rebels". "Inside job" and all. Apparently jet fuel can't melt steel beams after all. Georgian president was armed and borderline ordered to attack the Russian garrison in Ossetia. EU NATO territory was increased by how many times exactly? ABM treaty and half a dozen smaller ones were terminated by US and co. And the cherry on top - a violent coup widely supported, financed and borderline incited by proverbial "West". It's like accusing Iran of hostility towards the US. Like - really? Now? (: I'm sure most of the western listnookors can easily dismiss two decades of openly hostile actions. I can easily write off Iranian or Israeli concerns as well - they don't affect or threaten me.

The first couple of decades after the breakup of the Soviet Union were far different from the insanity of post-Crimea Russia, when it had clearly devolved into a mafia state that needed an external enemy to survive. This is when the media (and assaninations) started to go nuts. During those first years we built the Nord Stream gas pipeline, Russian tourists were all over the place, and oligarchs were buying football clubs and property everywhere. We didn't become energy dependent of Russia because we saw them as an enemy. They really seemed to be interested in cautiously approaching the West (and their population likely still is) but Putin became a dictator and it all went south.

In the early 1990's. Especially around the time of the 1991 coup, Russia went through a period of wild enthusiasm for getting unshackled from the Soviet past and following the "American" way. Russians, especially younger ones, held highly positive, practically worshipful views of the USA and the West. The iconic 1991 rock concert in Moscow attended by 1.5 million was a high tide mark of this hope. These dreams were dashed by the pain of transitioning from the failed Soviet planned economy to a market economy, accompanied by an explosion in crime and corruption, inept governance, outward emigration of millions of the most educated, and losing the social stability of the USSR. By the mid-1990s the prevailing thinking became that "democracy" and "liberalism" were a mirage and a ploy by the West to subdue and buy out Russia/USSR. Millions would pine for the stability and familiarity of the USSR, feeling like they lost what they felt was a great empire to become a 3rd world nation; they almost elected a Communist rival in 1996 (major money was thrown in to prevent it). The irony is that by 2000, Russia's market economy actually started working very well, plus the oil prices exploded from 10/barrel in the 1990s. But it was too late, Putin gained power and eventually took the country back towards Soviet despotism. Crucially, many Russians associated the prosperity Putin basically inherited with being somehow his own accomplishment. Later he'd harvest all of the resentiment and channel into hatred of the West to consolidate his own power.

"Each the rich" Translation: kill them and seize (in other words, steal) their assets. After all, billionaires have no right to exist.