Excellent news:

Reuters estimates that between 2006 and 2017 Russia committed about $17 billion in loans and investments to Venezuela and its state oil company, PDVSA.

With the political order that guaranteed those arrangements gone, Moscow’s leverage has largely evaporated. Assets once secured through loyalty and oil-backed agreements are now vulnerable to renegotiation or outright seizure by a new authorities backed by Washington.

For the Kremlin, Venezuela highlights the cost of tying money to regimes rather than institutions.

In 2009, Venezuela signed contracts to buy Russian weapons, including T-72 tanks and S-300 air defense systems, financed by a $2.2 billion loan.

As the economy deteriorated under sanctions, Venezuela’s debt to Moscow climbed to $3.5 billion by 2017. Repayment became impossible without further political concessions.

Vladimir Putin later agreed to delay principal repayments scheduled for 2024–2027, effectively acknowledging that the partnership was being sustained for strategic, not financial, reasons.

Russia risks losing $17 billion after Venezuela’s upheaval

For Moscow’s security bloc, Venezuela now stands as a warning: years of investment and influence can be erased not gradually, but in a single geopolitical moment.

No problem! A very nice phone call will solve it! 😄

It will cost a multitude of that to rebuild the Ukraine. To be paid by "western European taxpayers".

29 minutes ago, swissie said:

It will cost a multitude of that to rebuild the Ukraine. To be paid by "western European taxpayers".

Blackrock is loving it.