Dependence on Russia Is Likely to Leave Region’s Economy in a Precarious State

[warrior1]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/world/europe/crimea-economy.html?_r=0

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Here are the first four paragraphs. It's devastating for Putin, Russia and Crimea.

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
March 18, 2014

YALTA, Crimea — Many A.T.M.s in this sun-dappled seaside resort city in Crimea, and across the region, have been empty in recent days, with little white “transaction denied” slips piling up around them. Banks that do have cash have been imposing severe restrictions on withdrawals.

All flights, other than those to or from Moscow, remain canceled in what could become the norm if the dispute over Crimea’s political status drags on, a chilling prospect just a month before tourist season begins in a place beloved as a vacation playground since czarist times.

Even with the West imposing sanctions to punish Russia’s invasion of Crimea, President Vladimir V. Putin faces a far steeper financial liability as he pushes to annex the peninsula, which lacks a self-sustaining economy and depends heavily on mainland Ukraine for vital services, including electricity and fresh water.

“Ukraine can quite easily cut off Crimea,” said Oleksandr Zholud, an economist with the International Center for Policy Studies in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. “From an economic point of view it looks like a sinkhole.”


snip

[geek tragedy]

1. If there had been a legitimate political process followed regarding

secession, then these issues could have been discussed and debated within Crimea.

But, they're owned by Moscow now.

Enjoy your service in Chechnya, young men of Crimea.

[dipsydoodle]

2. “From an economic point of view it looks like a sinkhole.” ?

Sounds like sour grapes. Its only about the size of Wales anyway.

Economy :

The main branches of the Crimean economy are tourism and agriculture.[citation needed] Industrial plants are situated for the most part in the northern regions of the republic. Important industrial cities include Dzhankoy, housing a major railway connection, Krasnoperekopsk and Armyansk, among others.

The most important industries in Crimea include food production, chemical fields, mechanical engineering and metal working, and fuel production industries.[83] Sixty percent of the industry market belongs to food production. There are a total of 291 large industrial enterprises and 1002 small business enterprises.[83]

The main branches of vegetation production in the region include cereals, vegetable-growing, gardening, and wine-making, particularly in the Yalta and Massandra regions. Other agricultural forms include cattle breeding, poultry keeping, and sheep breeding.[83] Other products produced on the Crimean Peninsula include salt, porphyry, limestone, and ironstone (found around Kerch).[88]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimea

Any of the above currently exported to Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan , which seems to be their main market , will be uninterupted trade

In addition the lease for the base will now be payable to Crimea , not Kieve , c $1 billion p.a.

[warrior1]

4. They are not connected to Russia by land

they will have to ship by sea or built a bridge.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Sea more likely.

Maybe air too.

Bridges take a bit longer. Trajan spent 2 year building one across the Danube to ensure supplies for the last Dacian war.

[okaawhatever]

6. You know what's really curious? About a year ago the Chinese bought/signed a 50 yr lease for 9% of

Ukraine's arable land. Terms of the agreement:

Sept. 23 (UPI) -- China has just struck a deal to farm 3 million hectares (about 11,580 square miles) of Ukranian land over the next 50 years to feed its ballooning population.

The eastern European country will give up 5 percent of its total land, or 9 percent of its arable farmland, under the deal between China’s Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and KSG Agro, a Ukrainian agricultural company.

XPCC also plans to give Ukraine a fertilizer plant, as the country currently imports about $1 billion in fertilizer annually. XPCC says it will help build a highway in Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea and a bridge across the Strait of Kerch, a transport and industrial center.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/09/23/China-buys-5-percent-of-Ukraines-land/5941379959745/

I found it very curious that China would agree to build the road and bridge when it doesn't appear the transport of the food stuffs would travel that route. I thought when I first read the story that there was some gov't shakedown or bribery involved in building the road and bridge. Not only that:

On 25 April 2010, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement to build the
bridge
Apparently nothing was built, and then:

Following the outbreak of the 2014 Crimean crisis the Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a decree on 3 March 2014 to create a subsidiary of Russian Highways (Avtodor) to build a bridge along the Kerch Strait.

There have also been three announcements today in Russia state media papers saying they are starting to build the bridge. Are they building it or are the Chinese in exchange for the Ukraine land?

[magical thyme]

3. Whereas the rest of the Ukraine will be enjoying the high life

courtesy of EU and the IMF. Right. Whatever.