by Jorge Vilches for the Saker Blog
The unstoppable momentum behind Russia´s new Bretton Woods III finances added to the lack of official gold data available worldwide last week prompted The Saker article “NATO´s internal gold war” to publically ask
(1) how hard would it be for most countries to repatriate their now much-needed gold — theoretically still safely vaulted in ´custody´ at the Bank of England — specially if many of them tried to do it at once as most probably would happen…?
(2) why isn´t the current price of gold anywhere near its genuine market value ? Is it due to silent daily central bank interventions that hinder true free-market price-discovery mechanisms? [Ref #1: http://10.16.86.131/natos-internal-gold-war/ ]
Gold matters
The above is terribly important vis-á-vis the spanking-new payment system for Russia´s much-needed oil & gas and other essential produce now per Western “sanctions” only buyable either with rubles or gold. With rubles thru yet-not-so-clear–nor-yet-vetted banking procedures of unknown sustainability not been tried out even once yet — think revoking clawbacks…or ´artificial defaults´. While with gold it´d be thru old-fashioned sale of tangible bullion. Furthermore, in order to substantially increase its purchasing power, it would be highly meaningfull to be able to sell such gold – possibly with the buyer taking physical delivery — with a genuine market-reference price most probably very significantly above today´s sharply downward-manipulated quotes thru constant central bank interventions since time immemorial. Thus, we would avoid the coming chaos as the “blitzkrieg sanctions” imposed on Russia are not only not working but visibly having the opposite effect. Stubbornly opposing deeply immature EU wishfull thinking, the ruble today is even stronger than before the Ukraine armed conflict. The Anthony Quinn ´gold in Aqaba´ scene in “Lawrence of Arabia” brightly comes to mind [Ref #2: https://off-guardian.org/2022/04/08/despite-sanctions-the-ruble-is-stronger-than-before-the-war-why/]
The hungry 800-pound gorilla
So clearly Europe is not only shooting itself in the foot right now but rather both feet, plus knee-caps and elbows… and very soon in the temple (both sides) as exquisitely described by Pepe Escobar in “The Saker” per link below.
So this article would be Part II of “NATO´s internal gold war” … or, in other words, a tentative draft Plan to AVOID the terrorizing scenario now looming the Old World. This means that the political adults in the room must immediately stop the EU self-shooting spree and face off this hungry 800-pound gorilla with no good intentions in his purposefull mind.
Beware
Agreed, time is of the essence…and the schedule for this draft Plan to succeed may impress as too demanding and/or politically difficult. True enough, it requires careful massaging and political buy-in… and obviously LOTS of hard work, energy, good will and effort from every stakeholder involved. But please beware that this Plan has two huge advantages i.e. (1) having no visible competition and (2) counting with the automatic UK approval as the Brits will not survive without a relatively healthy EU to sell to. Yes, it´s TINA once again…but for a very different Big Bang
Skeptics
If you believe otherwise please just sit back and get the memo from Pepe Escobar re “Europe commits suicide”
[ Ref #3: http://10.16.86.131/sit-back-and-watch-europe-commit-suicide/ + http://10.16.86.131/the-total-war-to-cancel-russia/ ]
So this Plan could very well be the only chance for the Western world to literally avoid many millions of its people from starving or freezing to death amidst an economic devastation and scarcity of basic staples that no war has ever inflicted so widespread. There are no brilliant ideas to look forward to with a worsening outlook as we speak, with ever more serious infighting and unsolvable conflicts throughout Europe ´AWKI´ and very soon elsewhere too. Tourism is 25% of EU GDP but without A/C and typical food & essential fuel it´d be dead on arrival at the border.
Europeans, this is it
In a nutshell, right now our Western Graeco-Roman Judeo-Christian millenary culture needs to rise to the occasion. Dear “Europa”, as the cradle of Western civilization that you are supposed to be, please be advised that this is it. Otherwise, not just our culture but also our species could soon become functionally disabled. Or, in financial terms which technocrats enjoy so much, we can soon become a forever ´non-performing asset´ a.k.a. wasted garbage.
The Plan
Accordingly, this draft Plan attempts to AVOID the UK-EU Armageddon that “NATO´s internal gold war” would necessarily bring about. And also please be advised that our success would be the only way at hand to prove the Davos agenda wrong which actually was what brought us to the situation we are now facing in the first place.
The philosopy of The Plan
The basic philosophy behind this über urgent project is probably best represented by a photograph taken at Verdun in 1984 wherein French President Francois Mitterand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl are firmly holding each other´s hand like two school children both looking straight at the camera for the whole world to see. These two most serious, intelligent and very powerfull elderly statesmen were silently screaming something instantly understood by everyone after French and Germans had killed, maimed and hatefully destroyed each other for decades. Say no more
The math of The Plan
Lacking public domain data, let´s accept a spitball yet trustworthy “back-of-the-envelope” guesstimate of 5000 tons of gold deposited by EU members for custody at the Bank of England. So, if such tonnage were now physically available at today´s ultra low central-bank-manipulated prices it would pay for all of Europe´s oil & gas imports for one full year …while if gold were priced at USD $ 5000 per ounce Troy it would pay for 2,5 years of Europe´s oil & gas needs… And if gold were priced at USD $ 50,000 per ounce (something quite possible if genuine price-discovery mechanisms were set free without central bank manipulation…) those 5000 metric tons of gold at current oil & gas prices (which could be lower due to deflationary pressures) would pay for 25 years of EU´s fuel needs, or more.[Ref #4 https://www.gata.org/node/21861 ] [ Ref #5 https://www.bullionstar.com/blogs/ronan-manly/central-bank-gold-at-the-bank-of-england/ ]
2022 goals of The Plan
Goal (A) is having all countries being able to gradually repatriate their gold bullion now theoretically in custody at the Bank of England if they so desire with a serious and foreseeable schedule in place to be unequivocally complied with.
Goal (B) being able to sell such gold bullion even with buyers taking physical delivery but always at a genuine market price most probably very much higher than today´s fully manipulated quotes thru central bank daily interventions.
Governance & Management of The Plan
1. Arbiter Czar
Immediate appointment of a high caliber Arbiter Czar — with proper staffing & facilities + open budget + funding both in London and Brussels – preferably of non-European or US origin, irrefutably knowledgeable and impartial to be duly followed by UK & EU leaders and institutions in the implementation of this Plan as per guidelines herein. Both the UK and EU Parliaments must immediately approve the political appointment of this Czar ( and substitute sub-Czar ) under these terms with unequivocal and unmitigated support behind his/her role.
2. Full legal open-ended amnesty
Full legal amnesty & indefinite end-of-story “forgiveness forever” to both UK and EU on this topic reconfirmed by ECJ + ECB + BoE + British Judiciary & BIS Basel III thru specific legal homologation by July 1 while setting this topic separate from pending Brexit negotiations with plenty of shared UK + EU blame all around.
3. UK & BoE gold bullion all-inclusive official public domain status Report
Full-disclosure UK & BoE transparent gold-holdings & historical evolution Report + Audits Stages #1 & #2
4. UK official public domain gold bullion transparent Repatriation Plan
Proposed fully-descriptive UK official gold bullion repatriation Plan with time-table & schedule per (3) above.
1. Gold at real free-market price
Definitive and conclusive end to Ponzi scheme derivatives & option futures and central bank interventions etc etc etc allowing gold price to freely reach its own price-discovery + elimination of VAT and other taxes etc
2. “Financial Equivalence” Protocol
“Financial Equivalence” Protocol approval under normal Brexit mechanisms already foreseen.
3. Political reconfirmation and legal homologation
EU Parliament + UK Parliament + BIS Basel III + ECB + BoE + ECJ + British Judiciary of points (2) + (4) & (5).
The all-losers “blame game” (… which badly requires amnesty…)
“ALL-losers”… ALL as in ´everyone´ so don´t even think of it … so just please hold your nose and stick to The Plan.
But to clear the air and thus never coming back to this aspect ever again, let´s leave on record that there was plenty of shameless blame BOTH sides of the English Channel, fog or no fog. Clearly, they were both non-compliant. The UK of course, but also EU members which faked to “trust” the UK while playing parallel games to reap huge benefits from
- EU membership, economics & subsidies despite clear non-compliance with Maastricht inclusion criteria.
- a full euro “free ride” with no questions asked despite the fact that EU financial strategy was unsustainable from get-go like a bunch of drunken sailors coming out of a pub very late at night leaning on each other.
- so they all swept it under the rug, whistled the mess away, and “one hand washes the other” so to speak
- both sides played hardball “for keeps” the only problem being that Russia has now taken their ball away…
Per reknown internationally published experts, everybody that mattered knew and knows — ECB and BIS included – that Western central banks deploy daily surrepticious derivatives & options interventions in the futures market to control commodity prices and protect government fiat currencies against the public’s recognition of their devaluation.
Thus, for decades the price of gold was artificially maintained at ULTRA low levels so nobody in the EU cared much…
Now Russia has changed all that with a BigBang commodities-based Bretton Woods III deal and suddenly gold bullion matters lots because it buys oil & gas and everything Russian that Europe badly needs, or else…. So there was
- NO due diligence nothing meaningful done by the EU or the UK, sheer negligence & carelessness.
- NO world-class fully independent full-scale & depth public domain audits from anyone nor UK nor EU.
- The ´Authorized Custodian´ incurred in guiltfull non-compliance of known tasks, duties & malfeasance
- With deceitfull impunity, BOTH sides always irresponsibly stonewalled every question, doubt or query.
Initial schedule of The Plan
To be expanded and modified on the fly under the leadership and directions of the all-powerfull Arbiter Czar in order to achieve Goal (A) + Goal (B) described before by November 30, 2022.
May 1
Meeting to be held in London between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission and President Charles Michel of the European Council in order to
- officially submit candidates for Arbiter Czar + substitute both to be agreed upon by mutual UK-EU consent.
- discuss and agree on the general framework of the tentative draft plan outlined herein as possibly modified.
- discuss and agree and formally approve the tentative procedures and schedule for execution + open budget
June 1
Both the UK and EU Parliaments must have already approved the political appointment of the Arbiter Czar + substitute under the terms of this outline thru an over-arching Law superseding and over-imposed above any other law, ruling, treaty or order. The above should also include proper staffing & facilities + open budget + funding both in London and Brussels plus objectives, goals and procedures to be followed per (A) + (B) + (C).
July 1
Approval of full legal amnesty law & indefinite end-of-story “forgiveness forever” concept for both UK and EU and everyone else on this topic, as approved simultaneously by ECJ + ECB + BoE + British Judiciary & BIS re Basel III with specific legal homologation from whomever else is needed while setting this matter completely separate from any possible pending Brexit negotiations.
Repeat
Granted The Plan is very tight and politically difficult. But there is no other plan for the EU-UK survival as we know them, unless with BoJo´s help we readily welcome the very angry pitchforks to come inside the Palace and warm up
Jorge Vilches is proud to have been introduced many times as “ the quintessence of the independent columnist ”.
Former op-ed contributor for The Wall Street Journal – New York and other financial media, has studied this topic in depth for the past 20 years. WSJ-NY “The Americas” column, editor David Asman today Fox Business News anchor.
The Plan fails immediately with the assumption there is 5000 tonnes of gold in London. Look how many years it took Germany to get part of their holdings returned, and it wasn’t the bars they deposited. Europe is screwed, and Russia hasn’t really started yet. The Europoodles should be glad Putin is a moderate; be careful what you wish for – there are hardliners who could step in.
PS anyone see the Fort Knox gold?
I think you are correct. The EU will have to invade England and take their gold back… if it’s still there.. would be nice to think we could have an international inventory done and find out just who is holding the gold..
EU could hire Russia to get it! (perhaps a special package deal as the EU would continue to buy natgas etc. from Russia)
US has been robbing gold with Special Forces and Apache helicopters from the Central Banks of Ukraine, Cyprus, Libya, Iraq, Syria, and more. So there must be some gold in Fort Knox.
So US is hiding their real gold reserves, China is hiding their real gold reserves, and we dont know the real gold deposits belonging to London due to lack of trustworthy audits and complicated lend/ETF schemes.
Russia seems to be the only superpower open about their gold accounts.
With regard to Bojo, Ursula, and Michel being able to agree anything useful for Europe??? Come on.
They will continue to talk the talk expecting much more talk and many many meetings will resolve it.
As Saker calls it, “endless chatting”.
I prefer physical gold and Santa Clause!
The gold was stolen, of that there is no doubt. But it was small potatoes, relatively speaking. And if you think it ever arrived at Fort Knox……
“As Saker calls it, “endless chatting””
I would rather sitck to verbatim once coined by former Greek finance minister while negotiating the restructuring plan with Troika (ECB, EU and IMF) in the spring of 2015: extend and pretend! This is all these parasites are capable of.
It is amazing how delusional people of EU are letting be governed by the bunch of unelected beureucrats in “pursuit of common happiness”.
Arek, yes…but.
Are you aware that “extend and pretend” means a full EU-UK implosion come 2023 also dragging down the whole Western Hemisphere ? Pepe Escobar described this in depth in his “Europe commits suicide” piece this past week. And as mediocre as the EU-UK leadersip definetly is, don´t they at least know that ? If they don´t, regular folks and reality will make them come to their senses and focus their attention real fast methinks.
More and more people are waking up. If my car mechanic believes it is beyond Russia-UA bilateral issue it must tell you something.
Politicians believe they are safe and secure until SHTF moment. It was the case in 18th century France, likewise in 1989 in Romania and I guess chances are pretty high it may repeat soon in the entire Europe if people will suffer from cold and hunger…….There is still some time left……
Arek
I´d say the author clearly foresaw your comment WITH his “pre-emptive” answer already included in The Plan. Please re-read the paragraph regarding The all-losers “blame game” (… which badly requires amnesty…) “ALL-losers”… ALL as in ´everyone´ so don´t even think of it …
True that Arek, politicians are what they are… and we mostly voted for them.
Now what about all of us below, should we just starve and freeze to death ?
Daniel Smith
You thought of an “international inventory to find out just who is holding the gold” as a good idea, and that is precisely what this Plan specifically proposes in “Point 3 : UK & BoE gold bullion all-inclusive official public domain status REPORT. Full-disclosure UK & BoE transparent gold-holdings & historical evolution REPORT+ Audits Stages #1 & #2 ”
The UK would never submit such REPORT unless it has adequate CYA coverage with an already approved and homologated Amnesty by all stakeholders involved.
Look in at Deep Underground Military bunkers for the gold.
Some years ago a bunch of well sorted people was allowed to see one of the chambers. But nobody knows if all gold put in is available.
The other fundamental problem is the entire plan totally depends for its undeviating implementation on the same low calibre bunch of criminal numpty lunatic Rupert’s who have brought us to this present disaster.
Attempting to implement this with the current crop of decision makers would require a historically unprecedented level and scale of Damascian Conversion of the entire Western culture and its hierarchies, top to bottom.
The only way for this plan to be implemented with any chance of success will be AFTER the pitchforks – among other implements – have been applied. Not before.
cdvision
This Plan is wiser than what it may seem as one way or another it will bring the matter to a head.
A key part is the proposed Amnesty which for the UK means ´forgive and forget´ WHATEVER the UK has done with the EU gold. And if the EU gold is NOT now vaulted at the BoE, well the UK would now have to get it from somewhere, either loaned from their Anglo-Saxon US friends, or maybe by massively printing GBP and buying it from the market no ?
(1) The Plan does not “assume” anything and with prior Amnesty in Point 3 requires a “UK & BoE gold bullion all-inclusive official public domain status REPORT with Full-disclosure UK & BoE transparent gold-holdings & historical evolution REPORT+ Audits Stages #1 & #2”. So with prior Amnesty the UK is required to reveal exactly how much gold it actually now has and historically where did it get it from. And that´s just a starting point.
(2) The Plan merely states that there originally were approximately “5000 tons of gold deposited by EU members for custody at the Bank of England”. It does NOT say those 5000 tons of gold ARE still there now, although a part could certainly be. So let´s find out through Point 3 with a full-disclosure status UK-BoE REPORT with Amnesty coverage.
I suggest to go slow and read each paragraph very carefully.
And if this Plan cannot be implemented for whichever reason, well then the EU and the UK both together hand in hand would very soon be unrredeemably doomed come 2023 just like Pepe Escobar describes in detail.
Please correct me if I’m mistaken, but I thought the 5000 gram of gold to the Ruble was only a temporary means to stabilize Russia’s currency and internal market (as reported in – London Paul from the Sirius Report – Move to Multipolarity, 12 April 2022).
The Kremlin plan is to make a domestic ruble backed by Gold permanent FOR Russian Citizens and Industry only – in short for the stability of the domestic.Ru economy. There will also be an international or external Ruble backed by a range of commodities for international trade. The equation is R(UBLE) = R(Gold/domestic) + R (Commodities/Trade) which is known in math as a complex equation.
Here’s hoping we get a return to hard money. The only reason the west has been able to prosecute their adventurism, subterfuge and destabilization is because of the unbacked fiat currency regime and world reserve currency status of the USD.
I am of the opinion Europe and the US don’t have the gold the claim they do and Russia and china have much more. I’m Canadian and have more gold in my mouth than the Canadian govt does.
Nice ideals, but not going to happen. Too many egos on both sides of the channel to allow anything like this to happen. They’d rather watch their world be burned to the ground so they can lord it over the ashes.
there is already such a Czar – he sits in the City, and his name is baron rothschild…
Doubtful it could be sold, no one wants the diluted gold in their possession at the time of audit.
The initial schedule of The Plan as outlined above would be for 1), Meeting to be held in London between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission and President Charles Michel of the European Council.
While The Plan might easily have great merit, if its first step requires BoJo and Ursula to initiate something, then I have serious doubts if it can ever get off the ground. I am unfamiliar with Charles Michel, but of the other two, neither has shown any indication of having between them the sense of a stunned mullet.
Simple reality. It aint going to happen. Rothschild family has pushed the global fedcoin. But that is far from being ready to roll out. Though theres been progress with various nations and organisations like ASEAN to implement it. China russia are way ahead in finance alternarives, even their own digicoin, and have obviously upset the dominant cartel family. To throw a gold backed currency is to signal defeat. It was due back nearly 10-20yrs ago . Now is too desperately late. Is the gold even there? Many have noted that , and dont believe its so. Ask even good ally australia, they were given some excuse about transport insurance being too difficult to arrange when they tried to repatriate their gold. The general consensus from those in the know is paper notes far outweigh actual gold held. .Maybe thats why no audit and no changes can be made. The ponzi is up if the western world try. Robber barons dont like tiki torch carrying mobs
The BIS are way further down the road of CBCD technical functionality than has been made public. There are however a few leaked internal videos where senior officials describe it as ‘ready to go’ and with the functionality to allow national central banks to tailor the features they want. They salivate over the ‘total control’ of citizens on offer. Built in carbon credits, geographical spending limits & even time expiring ‘money’ options. The perfect accompaniment to a social credit score, permissions based society.
The latest press release you will note concentrates very much on the users ‘in country’ preparations. I fear it could be closer than many think.
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2022/january/bis-press-release-innovation-hub-focus
Indeed. They will continue in rapid speed where possible in Gay7, and expect to drown the remaining resistance later in Russia, Africa, ME, whoever will lack behind, anyone who try to be independent.
Finance bankers complete global control over every single citizen’s money.
Andrew
Yes all very nice but Russia only accepts gold or rubles, they are not stupid.
Well, yeah… if this Plan fails or does not fly then the author has the answer in his “SKEPTICS” paragraph suggesting to get the memo from Pepe Escobar re “Europe commits suicide”. This is not good. Be carefull what you wish for here…
Blah, blah, blah… There is more gold in privately held jewelry and other art objects than there is in Central Bank holdings and privately held coins and bars combined.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_holdings#World_holdings
That market determines the real floor and ceiling for gold. Talk of $5,000 or $50,000 gold is simply nuts… unless a loaf of bread suddenly costs $50.00.
That was 2011, Opp Nox. I suspect China and Russia boosted the percentage of Central Bank holdings.
A loaf of bread probably is worth $50. It’s not that the loaf is expensive, it’s that the dollar is worthless.
Flourishing black markets solve both instantly.
In a word, hallucinatory.
Rather it is nations, as sovereign nations, that can and must wipe the quadtrillions of speculative financial instruments (most certainly FEX-related) off the books.
It is NATIONS that can negotiate a new, stable, fixed-exchange rate system among their respective national currencies.
This can and must be the end of the globalist central banking system.
Russia is pursuing a sovereign national policy. Good for them. Likewise China. A second Trump administration in the US would be inclined to do likewise. India likewise.
Rather than curtsy to the queen & Brussels, the former nations of Europe must now reassert each their own respective sovereign existence. Citizens (not subjects) of those countries are certainly making their thoughts known. Events in Ukraine and elsewhere are also propelling such developments.
Gold is a commodity like every other commodity. Don’t fetishize it. It is instead what we might do with these commodities usefully, to further the development of our respective nations, that counts. To produce what we require and future generations will require.
National banks can willfully extend credit, based on the projected future productivity of the nation. A gold RESERVE system can then play its more limited role in settling trade international imbalances, but not strangle credit (the colonial gold standard) and real economic growth.
Let us put gold and other commodities in reasoned perspective. Their values are not intrinsic, but are ‘use values’ to be judged by nations as they serve their economic development. Put people first.
Wouldn’t this plan actually require reason on part of NATOstan?
Nobody indicated, that the western stooges are particularly interested in non-starving and non-freezing of their citizens.
No, EU has to fall, NATO has to fall, that’s the only way out.
Russian ship hit by Neptune missiles and sunk?pretty embarrassing if true which it appears to be.
@Bob… Link?
https://www.interfax.ru/russia/834853
The Moscova black sea cruiser flagship, sounds like some kind of HAARP device detonation of the ammo.
Does the global capitalist regime which openly advocates reduction in the world population of even want to “avoid many millions of its people from starving or freezing to death amidst an economic devastation and scarcity of basic staples that no war has ever inflicted so widespread.”?
According to our preliminary information, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva cruiser, was indeed attacked by the Neptune anti-ship missiles from the coastline between Odessa and Nikolaev. Also, the forces of the ship were diverted to counter the Bayraktar TB-2 UAV. The blow fell on the port side, as a result of which the ship took a strong roll. After the threat of detonation of ammunition, the crew of about 500 people was evacuated.
Highly embarrassing for Russia. Flagship vessel sunk by Ukrainian made missile. Ouch
Russia really has to hit Odessa and Nikolaev
https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/video-russian-flagship-moskva-explodes-in-black-sea-off-ukraine. NATO involvement according to Hal’s sources.
Only after total catastrophe, not “after critical thinking”. Democratic system of our time rejects politicians and decision makers to operate until it is too late.
Natural gas market price now 7,01 $ per MMBTU. 50% more than in Feb 2022. Oil Brent 108 $ per barrel.
Nice written. Be prepared! Ha,ha
⚡️ Russian Ministry of Defense:
▪️ The source of fire on the cruiser “Moskva” is localized. There is no open fire. Explosions of ammunition have been stopped.
▪️ Cruiser “Moskva” keeps buoyancy. The main missile armament was not damaged.
▪️ The crew was evacuated to the ships of the Black Sea Fleet in the area.
▪️ Measures are being taken to tow the cruiser to the port.
▪️ The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Any plan that is supposed to be implemented by the same criminals who have been ‘implementing’ the current system is fantastical. Any plan founded on ‘total amnesty’ for the criminal creatures at the helm of the UK, the EU and individual EU nations can not lead to anything healthy, lawful, moral and fair. Criminals and criminality, granted full impunity, can not be a basis for a better future. History and the entire human experience attest to that.
JB
I follow your line of thought and it´s well taken.
But please re-read the paragraph on The Philosophy behind the plan.
Furthermore, the plan does not claim to be “healthy, lawful, moral and fair”.
It is not, but the idea is to avoid an EU-UK obvious Armageddon we should all see coming straight for our throats.
So if this Plan were not implemented then the EU and the UK together in a handbasket would be unreedemably doomed very very very soon come 2023… just like Pepe Escobar describes in detail dragging the whole Western hemisphere down with them. So…hmmmm.
THere can be no arbiter/czar.
1. That is russian
2. Kim Goguen explains why the shadow finances no longer have any funding. This is a true Service to Self system created over a very long time.
Didnt germany try to repatriate gold from new york and only got 600 out of 900 tons requested and it took SEVEN LONG YEARS!? and it was not same gold deposited there, had different numbers? I think something similar also happened when someone requested their gold from Bank of England.
So if this plan is implemented and some or alot of gold isnt there, do all the countries take a haircut or is the last countries requesting it back going to get completely shafted??
krav
As already stated above…
(1) The Plan does not “assume” anything and with prior Amnesty in Point 3 requires a “UK & BoE gold bullion all-inclusive official public domain status REPORT with Full-disclosure UK & BoE transparent gold-holdings & historical evolution REPORT+ Audits Stages #1 & #2”. So with prior Amnesty the UK is required to reveal exactly how much gold it actually now has and historically where did it get it from. And that´s just a starting point.
(2) The Plan merely states that there originally were approximately “5000 tons of gold deposited by EU members for custody at the Bank of England”. It does NOT say those 5000 tons of gold ARE still there now, although a part could certainly be. So let´s find out through Point 3 with a full-disclosure status UK-BoE REPORT with Amnesty coverage.
I suggest to go slow and read each and every paragraph of this Plan very carefully.
It´s wise and thoroughly thought out.
Reading comments herein also helps.
” EU countries paying Roubles for gas would violate sanctions ” – European Commission Memo – 04/14/20222
(1) Putin said today “A reasonable alternative for Europe simply doesn’t exist”
(2) Putin is wrong
(3) Paying with gold is an alternative
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/eu-countries-paying-roubles-gas-would-violate-sanctions-european-commission-memo
Natural gas market price now staggering record 7,25 $/MMBTU. This skyrockets price of fertilizers too not only cost of housing.
I looked into the details of this gold or rubles for gas deal (and soon to be be(?) comodities. I had high hopes for reading this piece since machine translations from Russian to English is lacking in technical details of such complex, system changing, proposals. But here is how I understand it.
The Rubles for gas deal still sticks the problem to Russia. The Euro (and other currencies from unfriendly countries) are now send their currencies to the Gazprom bank. Gazprom bank changes them to Rubles via the central bank of Russia. For optics this is fine but now Russia has a single point of failure in their energy dealings with other countries. Before, the network of payments was decentralised. Now all it takes is taking out Gazprom Bank and friendly countries to Russia will have to choose, trade with Russia or the West and its vassals. At least, that is how I understand the gas for Rubles deal. If some can correct me and that the deal works different, please post it.
It is Ironic, Russia never wanted to have debts (currency) so the Ruble is very scarce on the international markets and nobody wanted it since Russia was happy to accept Western currencies instead. It is now turned against it. IIf you have little debt, you have not much currency floating around (currency = debt). it is now the West that controls the price (not to be confused with value) of the Ruble since they have no problem to go into debt speculating on the Ruble on the futures exchange. Another failure of the Russian central bank to not stop this. I think this is a bigger issue then the stealing of 300 billion in foreign exchange reserves of Russia. This since it is day in day out, year in year out and so on stealing of Russian real wealth.
The gold route Russia offered to pay for gas is really vague. The only thing that is clear is that Russian citizens (finally) can protect themselfs via physical! gold Finally they have a way to protect their savings. Sad thing is that Russia realised it this late (and that is being positive to the max on this point).
What is unclear, as far as I got it, is what kind of gold Russia will accept. As far as I understand this deal it means all kinds of gold. Thus paper gold will be paid in the best situation.
Sure, this announcement was good for the price (not value) of the Ruble but the author should know that only means more of the paper / digital fantasy. In gold. The fake system where paper / digits contols the real economy this action, as far as I understand it, will not change by this in a big way.
In short, no need for the LBMA to change much. Just like Basel III rules on gold. Just fancy wording. Strong words but the system remains in place (run by the US).
As the Saker calls them the 5th or 6th collum. I think on the monetary sphere they won big since even though we are in WW3for a while. Russia keeps a system in place that empowers their enemies and hinders Russia. I am probably a simple soul that does not get why Russia does this. But if this arm chair analist can figure this out anyone in powe in Russia can.
For now it seems to me Russia is aiding to its own demise on the financial aspect of this war. This Ruble and gold for gas move is a joke as I understand it.
Let me summarise the Russian position. Hey, you can buy our gas for Rubles but you dont have to buy them on the foreign exchanges. Just give them to us. We convert them to Rubles in a different way then before. We know we can use that currency for nothing but hey, we keep giving you energy you enemies.
Oh, know what, you can also pay us in gold. Sure, make that deravitives gold. We accept it. Really, economically Rissia makes no sense and this even that after they publicly stated they wont give gas away for free. As I understand the mechanims of the new deal, it is the same as the old deal.
Regards,
Hugo
Hugo
Like Frankestein, let´s go slowly and bit by bit okay ?
There´s a lot to unpackage, so I´ll split my take in different posts.
RE: Payment with Rubles implies problems, some possibly unsolvable and terminal.
You have a grain of truth here Hugo which ´agrees´ (sorta) with the author.
But this point obviously makes availability of gold for payment of Russian produce yet even more important than ever. From the very beginning, in the “Gold matters” paragraph, the author says
” [Payment] with rubles [would be] thru yet-not-so-clear–nor-yet-vetted banking procedures of unknown sustainability not been tried out even once yet — think revoking clawbacks…or ´artificial defaults´.
To make things worse, today Putin acknowledged that the “Unfriendly West is delaying payments for Russian energy” https://www.rt.com/business/553864-west-delaying-russia-gas-payments/
And yes, Gazprombank would be a single point of failure not only per what the author mentions but also because of lack of specific experience on Gazprombank modus operandi, non-matching procedures, possible technical glitches, hackers etc etc etc. From the IT standpoint its challenging, trust me.
Hugo,
You also say that “The gold route Russia offered to pay for gas is really vague”.
With all due respect… and sorry to break it to you Hugo… it is not.
Firstly, the “gold route” offered by Russia is clearly able to pay for everything and anything made in Russia… and not just “gas”(sic). Yes, with gold anybody can buy Russian natural gas… but also Russian oil, Russian wheat or corn or whatever Russian produce… or service (!)… or ruble loans (!!!)
Then you add something which is not correct either by saying ” What is unclear… is what kind of gold Russia will accept “…
Hugo, obviously the Russians will accept only physical gold bullion, period. NOT paper gold. And I hope you don´t need any contractual evidence of such. Russians are intelligent and provenly very capable and know all about the LBMA Ponzi scheme shenanigans and central bank interventions to which we have all become so used to we have eventually convinced ourselves they have value !! (they don´t). There´s only one gold Hugo in the Mendeleiev Table of the Elements. And as the author says it in the very same “Gold matters” paragraph, even Lawrence of Arabia knew that, so please check it out in Youtube. The LBMA and the BIS Basel III arrangements have thus been instantly blown out of the water like an old sick whale trying to breathe some, period. BTW, old man Mendeleiev was Russian !!!
This is why the Russians have been buying physical gold bullion hand over fist. NO, no way with paper gold. Only REAL Mendeleiev gold Hugo, not anything else. Surely they´d be different price quotes both bid & ask and negotiations here and there depending on purity or size or delivery conditions and terms… the .999 refinement or the now international standard for the Chinese kilo bar, “good delivery shipment”, insurance, etc. etc. etc.
But NOT paper gold Hugo that is not “unclear”(sic), sorry.
Hugo, then at the end you wonder what will the Russians do with the euros or dollars etc that they´ll get to keep in exchange for their rubles at Gazprombank in Russian territory under Russian perview. You don´t say it in so many words but I got the idea right, I hope, so correct me if I´m wrong.
Well, one clear possibility Hugo is that with those euros and dollars converted to rubles by Gazprombank the Russians will end up buying stuff and services from “friendly” countries that have bank branches also in “friendly” territories not controllable by the “unfriendly” bloc of nations.
What do you think, any comments ?
BTW please be advised that the Russians are not stupid self-defeating people.
And most probably they´ve thought all of this out in intricate detail for many years…
“What will Russians do with the Euros and Dollares”, answer: If they at all get some, they will buy gold and add it to their internal Russian economy.
Another case, @Opport Knocks wiki link claim 48% of global gold is held in jewelry and minority in Central Bank bars and bullion.
It tells us strong Government intervention can be expected if the gold price rise dramatically.
Ban on private owned gold, forced sell to Governments for pennies, as after the big crash and the ban ended first in 1974.
We cant have Turkish middle class hausfrauen or Indian small business family owners suddenly become $ millionaires over night can we??
Tommy
Private gold is private and most probably not declared. Confiscation is literally imposible. Black markets would flourish, it’s history .
Hi Brexitologist,
Thanks for your replies. If only for the efford you put in your replies requires me to post a reply (friendly smile)/. Of course I have some thoughts on your replies.
First of all a general point, it gotten a lot more clear to me that Russia is still trying to find a balance between the east and the west in a way that she does not put ”all her eggs in one basket” as we say here. The west seems to be forcing Russia to go with the east only.
My thoughts your first reply post;
I think I made a point that has more then a grain of truth. As you confirmin the rest of your post. The information about making late payments is new for me. Thanks for sharing that!
My main point you avoided though.Probably my fault since not making it clear enough. The Russian Authorities (not to be confused with the Russian Central Bank) made it a priority to have low debt levels. The result of that is that there are enough Rubles for the Russian economy but not enough for for her international trade. After all, currency = debt in general. Sure, with China et al that can be solved with currency swaps and the likes but that cannot be done with the unfriendly west for obvious reasons (like no trust).
Untill the recent past Russia solved that by being paid in foreign currency. Accumulating it and then being able to use that debt to damage the west and ths use it as a weapon. It is rumored that Russia urged China to help it destroy the west its finances during the last financial crisis in 2008ish era by dumping its debt.
But back to your posts and here my thoughts on part two of your reply.
No offence Brexitologist but your knowledge of the workings of the gold and energy markets seems to be limited. If Russia really wants to get physical gold for its resources, they might as well just shut down the energy supplies to the west. Especially to EUrope. There is no way that any Sovereign will trade gold for energy with the current prices for physical gold. Do the math on that I suggest.
I see this more as of a move of Russia to do trade on a way, way, less regulated and not controlled (sure, big time influenced but the west) by the west but the city of London. I assume you know that is a paralell financial system outside of the regulatory system of the western fiat system. Based on fractional reserve gold banking like in the old days of the gold standard.
On your last reply
Sure, of course Russia will try to use the western currencies to trade with friendly nations. To me it seems a no brainer that the west will tell them, if you will not choose, we choose for you. If you keep trading with Russia using Dollars, EUro etc, you be sanctioned. This is only postponing the inevitable for Russia.
Last but not least, the Russians are defenately not stupid self defeating people. But as I said in the opening of this post, Russia tried to do the impossible. Remain friends with the west even though the west made it clear, do what we tell you to do or else. Russia kept trying, and still does, to please the western unfriendly countries they supply real things to till this day is silly to say the least.
I truely find it amazing that Russia is still paying its debts even though the west cancelled its obligations. The west openly fighting Russia and Russia is still supplying the west with commodities that are essential to the war efford of the west and so on. If Russia stops all kind of essential stuff for the western war machine the war be over in max a year since no stockpiles of essentials exist in the west.
I hope this clarifies my thoughts. I am curious if your have thoughts on this reply as well.
Regards,
Hugo
Hi Hugo, allow me to take a couple of quick shots at your remarks.
RUBLES
Under current circumstances, paying Russia with roubles ( that nobody basically has…) thru a single authorized bank (Gazprombank) that would convert euros or dollars into rubles is NOT a smooth operation as as normally required and which can foresseably run into many possible troubles, some yet unknown. And we are talking about freezing and/or starving to death here so we better have a 100% reliable payment system, not experiments.
But paying directly or indirectly in “rubles” thru dollar or euro conversion has many political complications (such as possible ex-post-facto payment revocation) and banking complications, strategic complications (with issues such as “artificially created defaults”)… financial complications, commercial complications (such as possible clawbacks) and geopolitical complications (sanctions for those that accept Gazprombank dollars or euros) etc. etc. etc.
Still, some/all “unfriendlies” would/could eventually make some/ all payments in euros or dollars converted into rubles as Russia wants. But it´d be an un-stable and un-foreseeable payment mechanism not applicable for everybody and under any circumstances such as it is today. It would not be a “substitute system” at all.
[ “Payment] with rubles [would be] thru yet-not-so-clear–nor-yet-vetted banking procedures of unknown sustainability not been tried out even once yet ” ] I said in previous post.
I added, “Gazprombank would be a single point of failure not only per what the author mentions but also because of lack of specific experience on Gazprombank modus operandi, non-matching procedures, possible technical glitches, hackers etc etc etc. From the IT standpoint its challenging, trust me ”
GOLD
And according to your remarks — which for the sake of discussion I hereby temporarily fully accept 100% — it´s quite cumbersome if not impossible to pay Russia with physical gold.
CONCLUSION
The conclusion is then that Europe and the UK, either partially or totally, will freeze and starve to death come 2023 a-la-Pepe-Escobar. This means that Europe will cease to exist as we know it today. So, if the proposed plan can´t work well enough soon enough — something quite probable I admit — please let everybody in Europe know about this conclusion, the faster the better.
Hugo, I´m curious… your English is excellent, but I wonder if you speak other languages also.
Cordially – Brexitologist
Hugo, by the way, with my quickie off-the-cuff remarks sorry but I forgot to specifically mention that the author´s plan specifically includes a completely different price-discovery mechanism for gold than what we have today. So the math with the proposed plan is just fine Hugo.
quote
” Gold at real free-market price: Definitive and conclusive end to Ponzi scheme derivatives & option futures and central bank interventions etc etc etc allowing gold price to freely reach its own price-discovery + elimination of VAT and other taxes etc ”
quote
” Per reknown internationally published experts, everybody that mattered knew and knows — ECB and BIS included – that Western central banks deploy daily surrepticious derivatives & options interventions in the futures market to control commodity prices and protect government fiat currencies against the public’s recognition of their devaluation “
Plain talk is needed. I believe all the west European Gold has been stolen. If true, that tells all how things are going to unfold there. Expect a major attitude adjustment in west Europeans by Christmas, 2022.