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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Cold War effects: "No chocolates for you"


The victims of the Cold War between Russia and the West will continue to grow and grow and grow. Sufferers will not be the people we can easily find and name,  because such named will be either millionaires or billionaires.  The real sufferers will be the ordinary folks, the kind that work for the rich in their companies and factories which will now likely close down, one by one, all over the Ukraine, parts of Russia and in many other places.  Most sanctions hurt the little man, not the people or entities named on the lists.

Don't ever forget exactly how and who are responsible for waking up the hibernating bear. 

The ripple effect will be seen even in Canadian politics.  If Harper wins the next election I will be hugely surprised.  At the very most the Conservatives might be able to form a coalition govt. Their role in the Ukraine fiasco has been a big "No No." Couple that mess with the Libyan mess and savvy Canadians have come to the realization that Harper's foreign policies are as bad if not worse than Obama's blunders. Moreover, instead of knowing the meaning of "charity begins at home"  the Conservative govt. has been sending taxpayer money to lands whose people are hostile to the West.  Bad, bad, bad!

From FinancialTimes:
....High quality global journalism requires investment.  

As tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate over Crimea, a new front has opened in the simmering chocolate war. Law enforcers in Lipetsk in southern Russia shut down the Roshen confectionery plant on Thursday, choking off the Ukrainian company’s access to the lucrative Russian candy market.
“Police arrived at the Lipetsk plant on Wednesday morning and took away the keys,” Alexander Zolotarev, press spokesman for Roshen CIS, said. “They sent all the workers home. The plant is closed.”
In a separate action, law enforcers took over Roshan’s warehouse in Lipetsk that serves the company’s sprawling Russian distribution network. Roshen has outlets all over Russia from Kaliningrad to Sakhalin Island in the far east, said Zolotarev. “Russians won’t be eating Roshen confectionery any more.”
Roshen, one of east Europe’s biggest sweets makers is controlled by Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian tycoon and pro-European politician. That could explain why the company has been feeling the heat in Russia for some time.
The so called “chocolate war” came to a head last July when Russia’s consumer watch dog prohibited imports of Roshen confectionery citing unspecified safety concerns. Many observers believed the ban had more to do with Poroshenko’s political activities than Moscow’s concern for the welfare of Roshen chocolate fans..........

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