If, note, if – then I’d be making hay here:
Aleksei Atapov, the owner of a car repair firm, said: “We are in a pretty sad situation in terms of car repair and maintenance in Moscow. The central warehouses closed at the end of February, and even the custom parts that arrived were not given to us. They returned the money and took all the parts back abroad.
“Because of such jumps in the rate, they simply stopped all activities. Central warehouses are our everything. Two weeks after 24 February [the day of the invasion], speculation for car parts reached its peak. Something that would cost 900 roubles (£12.50) would cost 7,000-7,500 roubles. Original car oil would cost 12,000 instead of 1,200.”
While the Russian government has been promoting its policies of import substitution and “parallel imports”, which allow importers to ignore bans on sending spare parts to Russia,
Given that I know people at HQ Skoda……
Actually, the point is that as soon as there’s some restriction on the classic, large scale and manufacturer dominated supply line then there’re vast profits to be made in the small scale and more informal supply line. Load up a panel van with the desired components, start driving.
No, really. Very good money was made around 1990 on that sort of basis. Because trade will happen – it’s the margins on it that change.
Maybe all the people who are buying Russian oil will scrounge spare parts to flog in exchange?
But wouldn’t you end up being paid in roubles?
Interesting topic. I think it depends on the culture you’re operating in. I’ve wanted to source non-standard car parts here. EBay’s usually the best place to look. But you look at the listings & the majority of them aren’t Spanish. UK was prime before ustedes vamos de UE. Germany’s well represented. So’s the Baltics, France & Italy. Of course there’s two things going on here. One is will people enter a market where there’s a demand? The other’s, will consumers seek alternative sources? Both are related to innovation. I suspect for this & other reasons, the Spanish aren’t particularly innovative.
So are Russians? From dealing with them, I’d say yes. So Tim could make money, because the market would be there. But he could be facing stiff competition.
Here’s a theory. You get good clubs where you get good fashion. So UK (London & Manchester?), France, Italy. Spain? Barcelona for both. Ibiza for clubs, but most of them are run by Brits. Rest of Spain, the clubs are lousy & fashion’s wearing the label on the outside of the garment. Innovation, again? I’ve heard Moscow’s good for both clubs & fashion. The club music scene’s certainly got serious cred.
If I was still in EU
I’d leave:
Top producer Albemarle risks shutting German plant if EU declares lithium a hazard
Top lithium producer Albemarle Corp may have to shut its Langelsheim plant in Germany if the metal used in electric vehicle batteries is declared a hazardous material by the European Union, its finance chief told Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/top-producer-albemarle-risks-shutting-german-plant-if-eu-declares-lithium-hazard-2022-06-07/
Pcar. I have a simple, quick, cheap, easy and obvious solution. Just run everything with fossil fuels.
But I’ve said all this before!!!
There is a lake between Estonia and Russia. On dark winter nights when the lake is frozen, there are so many fast cars whizzing around there, without lights, border cops and smugglers, that it’s a wonder they don’t all smash into each other.
OFF TOPIC
“Nobody Wants an Open Kitchen, Says Washington, D.C. Architect”
According to pay the rent ad on this page.
Nobody wants an open kitchen, except the people who do. Ponce.
Tim, did you know that most of your blogroll links are either broken or haven’t been updated since Bush Junior was President? To avoid looking out of touch and technologically illiterate you do do site maintenance occasionally, like perhaps once a year, don’t you?