Yes, it is a term we see in fire sales and in all all kind of desperate needs. But lucky for the Ukraine there is a solution. After the war, the EU and US take possession of EVERYTHING in the hermitage. It might not be enough, but it should be enough to cover well over 50%, and the Russians could redecorate it for all the oligarchs who are not that welcome in Europe or the US. To some degree I feel for them, because there is no way that they were all aware, or all agree what is going on, and after they lost everything (thanks to Putin), they will need to stay somewhere and it better looks nice, so the Hermitage is a decent solution. It will be a bit barren after we take everything from it, but there are a few other museums, as such the Hermitage could be decently decorated as a refuge for oligarchs. If there is one oligarch I feel for, it would be Roman Abramovich. I do not know the man, but he was nuts about his Chelsea team. I personally do not care about football, so I cannot relate, but I can relate to loss of something a person worked on for that long. He became owner in 2003, and in that time the club won 18 major trophies, that is some achievement, you cannot deny that and a person that vested into a football club has his minds far away from the war machine of Putin. I reckon many will disagree with me, but that is how I see it. And his actions on keeping the club safe were highly commendable.
It needs to be said, we cannot rule out all oligarchs, but if there would be even one, this man would be it. And this also relates to what comes next, the Russians might think that this is over, that this is going their way, but the EU and US are ready for them now, they are willing to take over Saint Petersburg as a breach for Russia. As we can see the Russians who were supposed to have the largest and most powerful army (they would be in first or second position) Now they are nowhere near that and as such Russia is about to face an army a lot stronger and better trained than the Ukrainian one. They were 21st on the military power list and they stopped and fought back an army a lot stronger than them. Now that the damage is all over the place, they have no reserves left for NATO making it also a very dangerous stage. It reminds me of the cornered cat and the weird jumps they will make. The problem is that Russia is also a nuclear state and even as they know that it will be the last move they ever make, Russia will not handover the treasures of the Hermitage, they are already in a stage of stealing grain, as such we will see that their position is sliding from bad to disastrous. And when you consider that the Hermitage has 3 million art pieces from all kinds of era’s, the idea that 2,755 billionaires would want to buy a piece of art (at discount) is not to be disregarded. And now as the BBC gives us “We need $750bn to rebuild country – Ukraine”, is see a simple sum. If all these billionaires spend $345 million, we end up with $963 billion. Solving the repair issues. I reckon that the costs will increase, so if we could get the upper echelon of these billionaires spend twice or three times that amount (with a little more discount) Ukraine would be in a better place. There is still all the confiscated oligarch materials, but I am actually not sure if that will all go the proper way. Some of this stuff is properly registered in trusts, so we might not get that much from that group. Yes, I heard all the noise, but in the end legal settings prevail and as such some of these oligarchs have their stuff securely set in paperwork. As such, I thought out of the box and I am setting the stage of confiscating 3 million pieces of art from ONE place. I do not think that anyone else had thought of that, or at least not in places I read materials.
Russia has a few more places like that, but the Hermitage is perhaps the most famous one of them all. So let the bidding begin. I want an omelette tomorrow, So I am bidding $0.35 per faberge egg, 6 eggs make an omelette, so where would I deposit the $2.10 (plus shipping and handling)? You think that this is a joke, and it would be a bad one. I reckon that the ‘true’ friends of Putin are securing their hold on these art pieces even now as I am typing this. In the end, in 2023, what do you think the Russian state will be worth when new years day 2023 comes calling? You think it is long, but it is a mere 25 weeks away and at present the Ukrainian war has lasted now almost 4.5 months is nowhere near one, yet the Russian machine is running out of generals, colonels, fuel and a few other items. What do you think will happen when NATO knocks on the door at the border of Poland and Belarus. I reckon that they will not put Finland in a bind by going there to invade Saint-Petersburg, but the NATO navy could sail straight through to Saint Petersburg and use it as a beachhead (whilst confiscating the art in the Hermitage). These are pure speculations, I have absolutely no data supporting this, but I would take that route. Belarus will have to put up or shut up and from there it becomes a simple race to Moscow. With the Russians having so much damage, the rest of their equipment might not in a much better state. Just a thought!
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 