Most Popular
1. It’s a New Macro, the Gold Market Knows It, But Dead Men Walking Do Not (yet)- Gary_Tanashian
2.Stock Market Presidential Election Cycle Seasonal Trend Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
3. Bitcoin S&P Pattern - Nadeem_Walayat
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
4.U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - Raymond_Matison
5. How to Profit from the Global Warming ClImate Change Mega Death Trend - Part1 - Nadeem_Walayat
7.Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - Nadeem_Walayat
9.It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - Stephen_McBride
10.Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - Richard_Mills
Last 7 days
Trump or Harris - Who Wins US Presidential Election 2024 Forecast Prediction - 5th Nov 24
Stock Market Brief in Count Down to US Election Result 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Gold Stocks’ Winter Rally 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Why Countdown to U.S. Recession is Underway - 3rd Nov 24
Stock Market Trend Forecast to Jan 2025 - 2nd Nov 24
President Donald PUMP Forecast to Win US Presidential Election 2024 - 1st Nov 24
At These Levels, Buying Silver Is Like Getting It At $5 In 2003 - 28th Oct 24
Nvidia Numero Uno Selling Shovels in the AI Gold Rush - 28th Oct 24
The Future of Online Casinos - 28th Oct 24
Panic in the Air As Stock Market Correction Delivers Deep Opps in AI Tech Stocks - 27th Oct 24
Stocks, Bitcoin, Crypto's Counting Down to President Donald Pump! - 27th Oct 24
UK Budget 2024 - What to do Before 30th Oct - Pensions and ISA's - 27th Oct 24
7 Days of Crypto Opportunities Starts NOW - 27th Oct 24
The Power Law in Venture Capital: How Visionary Investors Like Yuri Milner Have Shaped the Future - 27th Oct 24
This Points To Significantly Higher Silver Prices - 27th Oct 24
US House Prices Trend Forecast 2024 to 2026 - 11th Oct 24
US Housing Market Analysis - Immigration Drives House Prices Higher - 30th Sep 24
Stock Market October Correction - 30th Sep 24
The Folly of Tariffs and Trade Wars - 30th Sep 24
Gold: 5 principles to help you stay ahead of price turns - 30th Sep 24
The Everything Rally will Spark multi year Bull Market - 30th Sep 24
US FIXED MORTGAGES LIMITING SUPPLY - 23rd Sep 24
US Housing Market Free Equity - 23rd Sep 24
US Rate Cut FOMO In Stock Market Correction Window - 22nd Sep 24
US State Demographics - 22nd Sep 24
Gold and Silver Shine as the Fed Cuts Rates: What’s Next? - 22nd Sep 24
Stock Market Sentiment Speaks:Nothing Can Topple This Market - 22nd Sep 24
US Population Growth Rate - 17th Sep 24
Are Stocks Overheating? - 17th Sep 24
Sentiment Speaks: Silver Is At A Major Turning Point - 17th Sep 24
If The Stock Market Turn Quickly, How Bad Can Things Get? - 17th Sep 24
IMMIGRATION DRIVES HOUSE PRICES HIGHER - 12th Sep 24
Global Debt Bubble - 12th Sep 24
Gold’s Outlook CPI Data - 12th Sep 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

Latvia Claims $200 Billion For 84 Year of Russian Occupation

Politics / Russia Apr 29, 2009 - 03:09 AM GMT

By: Pravda

Politics

Latvia, one of the three Baltic States, a former Soviet republic, found a way out of the financial crisis. The country calculated the damage that the nation suffered from the Soviet occupation after WWII. Forty-eight years of Soviet power supposedly cost the country $200 billion. The amount includes Latvia’s costs for the loss of its independence, the deportation of the population, the ecological damage and even the Afghan war and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Latvia intends to collect the amount from Russia with the help of the European Union.


The amount appeared as a result of the work of the governmental committee for calculating the damage, which the nation supposedly suffered as a result of the Soviet occupation. It particularly goes about the years from 1940 to 1941 and from 1944 to 1991, when Latvia was a member of the USSR. Latvia stands on the brink of bankruptcy and desperately decides to solve its financial problems at Russia’s cost.

The members of the committee said that they based their calculations on the assumption of how the Latvian economy could have developed if the nation had not become a member of the Soviet Union.

Since it is hard to speak about something that never existed, Latvian “specialists” based their calculations on the economic indexes of developed countries from the 1950s through the 1990s. If it was not for the Soviet occupation, the nation’s GDP would have made up $248 billion at 2000 values.

This is a very bizarre comparison to make. It was impossible to exchange the Soviet ruble for foreign currency, whereas the cost of the US dollar on the black market was evaluated at more than ten rubles at times.

Latvia would have at least become a country like Finland if it had not been “occupied” by the Soviet Union. Its GDP would have grown by at least $246 billion from the 1950s to the 1990s, Latvian officials believe.

Soviet repressions make a special category at this point. Latvia included everyone, who suffered from the Soviet power in the group of the repressed people. Everyone who cooperated with Nazi Germans during WWII and took part in reprisal raids were also represented as victims of Soviet repressions.

The most curious thing about it is as follows. As it turns out, Soviet “occupants” plundered Latvia ’s national endowment – its mineral resources, namely two million cubic meters of sand and, more importantly, 31.138,120 cubic meters of dolomite rocks totaling $318 million.

The authors of the report believe that all those “treasures” were used to satisfy the needs of “the army of occupants.” One may only wonder what “the army” could do with so much sand and dolomite rocks.

As a matter of fact, “the Soviet aggressors” were building industrial enterprises and apartment buildings for the Latvian citizens. It may seem at first sight that such activities can not do any harm to anyone, but Latvian official say that “the occupants” were destroying the nation’s ecology. The ecological damage was evaluated at $700 million.

They did not forget the Chernobyl disaster either. Latvia hardly suffered from the explosion of the nuclear power plant, but Riga considers the catastrophe as an attempt to cause damage to the health of the Latvian nation. The damage was evaluated at $280 million.

The Afghan war was another attempt to undermine the Latvian demography. The war took the lives of several dozens of Latvian citizens, the majority of whom were not Latvian nationals, judging by their last names.

Of course, Russia will show an adequate reaction to Latvia ’s insanity. This country gives every reason to believe that it greatly regrets the collapse of the Third Reich.

Sergei Balmasov

Pravda.ru

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

Pravda Archive

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Comments

ivan
13 May 09, 16:08
Latvia

Riga ( as landscape) did not suffer much from Chernobyl but latvian people did,because they were forst to work there after catastrophe occured,many got sick with cancer and so on.6000 people worked there and about 1500 their children suffered from different health problem associated with radiation caused mutations.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in