Chronicles of De-dollarization.

 RT reports: 

Moscow and Beijing have ramped up the share of settlements in national currencies to 25 percent this year against a modest two percent recorded seven years ago, according to the Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov.“The share of national currencies in our [trade] relations with China is steadily increasing. It has reached about a quarter through the nine months since the beginning of the year. This is quite a big progress,” the ambassador said, citing the Chinese partners.

It was said many times, that, taken in isolation, China-Russia economic conglomerate reaches a very high level of autarky, including in the spectrum of high to very high-tech production. Russia, certainly, begins to look like an autarky--it is increasingly self-sufficient. As events of 2020 have shown, Russia weathered a number of storms without losing her focus on a larger aim of national projects and re-industrialization. Obviously, the virtuoso gambit with oil in 2020 by Russia was something to behold, because it overturned decision-making process in global energy. This is how it goes now:

OPEC, Russia and other oil major producers reached an unusual agreement on production quotas on Tuesday, with Saudi Arabia committing to reducing its oil production by one million barrels a day and Russia and Kazakhstan winning relatively modest production increases... Finding that they were unable to head off Russia’s demand for a production increase, Saudi Arabia appears to have largely given in to preserve at least a semblance of unity. “Instead of letting everything fall apart, the Saudis let the Russians have what they want,” said Bhushan Bahree, an executive director at IHS Markit, a research firm.

Didn't we see it a mile away? We did. With $53 per barrel, Russia's oil export feels just fine. It is a good way to fill coffers with cash, just for the rainy day. There are other ways, of course, to fill those coffers, ranging from grain, to weapons, to gas to even, for FFS, with Russian-made UAZ Patriot getting ready to sell in the United States. 

Italian commercial truck brand Bremach has announced plans to begin selling a Russian-designed 4x4 SUV in the U.S. sometime in 2021. The Bremach Taos is a rebadged version of the UAZ Patriot that first hit the market in 2005 and is similar in size to the Jeep Cherokee. However, the Taos is a true body on frame truck like the Toyota 4Runner that’s been updated with the modern safety systems required to make it street legal in the U.S.

Who would have thought? Good ol' Goat (Kozlik), as a legendary UAZ-469 used to be called, always had it in itself, with its ability to basically drive anywhere, to be turned into this:

There are plenty of those on the roads in Russia. In the US, the suggested price is around $26,000--around the price of a new basic version Forester. We'll see how it will sell, but these vehicles are good for bad roads. I, personally, would love to have GAZ Tigr, preferably with AGS and PKM package, but these are just my dreams.  

Speaking of which, tomorrow's voting and pro-Trump rally in D.C. do not change much, no matter the outcome--the country is hopelessly divided and increasingly cannot live with itself. You all know the truism--house divided etc. I don't hold my breath, plus I had my share of tawdry political spectacles last four years, so the only thing which I am trying to calculate is how fast a totalitarian regime will be imposed on the United States, and if there is a chance to avoid it.