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"So think about what weight we have"
You come across comments like these (Fig. 1) and feel sad for those who live in the Russian Federation and believe in such prevalence.
It's not that commentators are taking data that is fundamentally incomprehensible. According to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Russia's share in global GDP (PPP) by the end of 2023 will be 3.49% and 3.95%, respectively. It's not that the real data is actually almost twice as big. That doesn't matter much.
What's important? What's important is what 3.5% is and how easy it is to replace. Let's look at a simple example.
Let's create a character. He lives in an ordinary apartment on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. He works remotely. You get 100,000 rubles. Sometimes I say stupid things in the comments, but that's okay, we're all guilty of it. Let's give him a name and let it be Petya Vsepropalshchin.
introduction? Let's move on.
Petya spends money on something. For what? Well, a mortgage at Sberbank is 35,000 rubles, food at Magnit is 30,000 rubles. 25,000 rubles for meeting a friend twice a month, 15,000 rubles for a loan. Well, one little thing adds 10,000 rubles. Ride a Wusha scooter and more.
everyone! He already makes more money than he earns (an act of financial suicide). Then he gets utility bills. Since the story is fictitious, let's imagine you get a bill for 3,500 rubles. You get electricity from Lenenergo or 3.5% of your monthly income.
And then Vasya got indignant, he wanted to take a loan for a new iPhone, it was not in the budget, and here he had to pay for the electricity. And he said: "What can Lenenergo do with 3.5% of my monthly income!" He even pays Usha more. He accepts this and refuses to pay for the electricity. He has not paid for several months, and the debt has been accumulating. He received a polite offer to pay off his debt. But Vasya demonstratively refuses.
Since the situation is hypothetical, Lenenergo turns off the electricity in his apartment, stating: “All shutdown goals will be achieved.”
Vasya demonstratively connected his device to the power bank, giggled and said: "What have you achieved? "I can recharge everything without you." He called his friends, told everyone what a great guy he was, and prepared in advance. And how did he not understand that he didn't have to pay for electricity?
But when tomorrow comes and the power bank runs out, Vasya won't be able to work. Because [suddenly] all his equipment runs on electricity. The employers are unhappy. But Vasya is a man of principle. He doesn't want to work with Lenenergo anymore. He wants to go to a coworking space, work for an hourly rate (spot market), charge his devices and find another provider.
Vasya learned that having a separate connection in his apartment is very expensive, and he has to pay for electricity only with higher prices and additional expenses. Then he thinks about installing a generator, but renting the weakest generator with a capacity of 2-3 kW will cost 30,000 rubles. Once a month we also provide fuel for the generator and make noise in the apartment. In general, there are many problems. But, as in the joke about the mouse and the cactus, Vasya suffers like this for months. Renting a generator costs a lot of money, and the inability to meet with friends worsens the debt. I do not ride a scooter.
Then Vasya decides to make peace with Lenenergo and offers: "If I reunite with you, I will pay you back. Then we will forget our old debts. "What are you talking about? You only make up 3.5% of my monthly income."
And at Lenenergo they told him: “All closure goals will be achieved.”
Vasya sadly leaves and stands in the rain. He understands that there are also replacement costs and they can be several times higher than the cost of the lanterns themselves. He also understands that he is not the center of the Earth and does just fine without Lenenergo.
I'll leave the ending of the story open. Everyone can come up with their own story.
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Let's get back to reality.
Gazprom continues to operate without the EU, while [for example] the EU's largest economy (Germany) is collapsing due to sanctions (sources here, here and here). And there are dozens of such companies. From fertilizers to gold, from oil to grain and titanium.
As the narrator says, “Think of the burden we carry.”
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I am a private investor, the author of the Telegram channel "Richard Happy", free courses on bonds and the auto-following strategy "Russian Market" (available in T-Investments and BCS). The written content is not an individual investment recommendation.