> Banking on a dying brand in a dying industry, and becoming more
> dependent on oil and gas to sustain your economy (which when Saudi Arabia
> is involved is called being "petrostate") even as prices and your
> production and reserves fall.
1. Opel's German plants have top-tier productivity, and will provide leading-edge tech to Russian auto firms. 2. Russia has become much less dependent on energy exports, which make up less than 20% of the economy these days. 3. Oil prices are back up to $70/barrel, and there they will stay. Reason: state-owned companies own the oil, and will put a floor under the price. 4. Production and reserves aren't an issue -- Russia's Far North has vast reserves, though of course it would be ecological madness to burn them.
-- DRR