There is a report this week in The Oil Drum suggesting that in the wake of the current natural gas crisis, Ukraine is nearing bankruptcy. I would note that the video report comes from a Russian news source, which may not be a totally neutral observer. The discussion thread at the link covers both the fuel crisis and the validity of the reporting service.
It's just a bit gut-wrenching to think that, instead of pondering the consequences of prominent banks and corporations going bankrupt, we now need to consider entire countries as becoming financially insolvent. Iceland, of course, and Zimbabwe is the poster boy (for other reasons), but
The creditworthiness of at least 20 countries around the world has more than halved in the last six months as the global credit crisis has deepened. There are growing fears that along with Ukraine, other countries such as Pakistan, Iceland, three Baltic states -Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia -, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, South Korea, Venezuela, Mexico, Bolivia and Argentina could all slide into a downward spiral towards bankruptcy. Russia could join the list if crude oil prices fall below $70 a barrel and stay there.
good cartoon there, about fits the situation
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