There are also FIRB restrictions on foreign ownership of property, tightened for residential property following the pandemic.
Ukraine has complex agricultural titles. Following the post Soviet independence, smaller agricultural land plots were given to Ukrainians, with some leased to agribusiness and Oligarchs, encouraged by the IFFIs as more economic. There are occasional auctions of State owned land.
Sick to ■■■■■■■ death of the pathetic political efforts to deal with Putin’s war on UKr. Modi is firmly in my sights … a man who cannot be trusted. Europe and NATO need to step up with air power and proper involvement before it’s too late… UK need a change of government pronto.
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Had a long reply but don’t want to derail the thread Bacchusfox, maybe it is best I posted it over on the West Taiwan thread later.
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haha that article was the usual load of crap that the RU propaghandists put out. The “evidence” was a short video where there appeared to be UA column with a tank amongst 10 vehicles. No RU T80 anywhere to be seen. The UA vehicles were bunched up close and manoevring in daylight, probably one of those early parts of the offensive where they were inexperienced and suffered additional casualties as a result.
It looked like 2 vehicles were hit? But it looked like the usual impact from artillery, not a tank hit. Seems like a column of vehicles advancing and being halted by the lead vehicle getting hit is turned into “Ru wipes out an entire column”!
The rest of the article is a bit of cheerleeding about how technologically advanced the T80 is because it uses a gas turbine and seemingly shares parts with the MI8. Ignoring that it is the most unreliable of their tanks and least preferred. It also boasts how the T80 125mm gun is improved over the D30 howitzer 122mm gun (designed in 50’s, operational from 1960) 
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I think it’s fair to say that the Eurasian Times and Hindustan times (are they both the same news outlet?) are sipping a lot of the RU propaganda. Looks like they are being fed a media piece and then re-publishing it on their platform.
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Talking about T-80s, Onyx posted this a couple of days ago. Informative post and comments.
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Modi is getting brownie points or even star treatment for his anti China stance, including military engagement in Indo Pacific War games. There is also an element of economic interest in moving western tech investments from China to India. He continues to purchase arms from Russia and Indian companies have been buying Russian crude oil for processing.
So a little less than neutral in stance.
But if a G20 communique is supposed to be joint, what else is to be expected. It has happened at other G20 meets not hosted by India, individual G20 members can issue their own statements, including in coordination.
Possible long range air to surface option for UA, possible to launch from Mig29 or F16
https://twitter.com/AirPowerNEW1/status/1700494264831254658?s=20
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As we are familiar with here.
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In the replies to the Oryx tweet there’s a guy who has been mapping the losses over time. The T-80 is becoming the main tank in service. It was built in the 80s and was a maintenance beast and very thirsty, so was unaffordable after the USSR fell. New tanks were put straight into storage. No substantial export sales were made, so there was no incentive to sell parts on the black market.
This means the T-80 is the best option to bring back into service. Remaining T-72s will be in poorer condition and require far larger and slower overhauls.
It is a good tank. The T-72 is weaker in most respects, but cheaper because it uses a traditional diesel engine instead of a turbine. Unclear where Russia will get replacement turbines from or how they will keep up with maintenance. Optics for these tanks are unlikely to be updated.
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India has always straddled the middle ground between Russia and America. I don’t know the details, but there is some intense rage directed by Indian people towards the US. Something about cutting food aid as a diplomatic weapon. I don’t know the details, but the anger is real.
It’s actually in our interests for India to buy Russian crude at the cost of production. It means Russia makes no profit, but keeps energy prices stable globally. Australia is probably importing refined fuels made by India out of russian crude.
TLDR- it’s complicated
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Full text looks like 37 pages of reaffirming that the G20 is the “premier international platform” for pure waffle judging from p2:
For the Planet, People, Peace and Prosperity
We note with deep concern the immense human suffering and the adverse impact of wars and conflicts around the world.
Concerning the war in Ukraine, while recalling the discussion in Bali, we reiterated our national positions and resolutions adopted at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly (A/RES/ES-11/1 and A/RES/ES-11/6) and underscored that all states must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety. In line with the UN Charter, all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.
Reaffirming that the G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation, and recognizing that while the G20 is not the platform to resolve geopolitical and security issues, we acknowledge that these issues can have significant consequences for the global economy.
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Goes back to Nehru, Bandung non aligned movement, post Indian and Indonesian independence. India had shored itself up from dependence on US political and economic influence
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Not sure it has anything to do with food, Indian people are typically well disposed to the USA, most wanting to live there and there are about 5 million living there.
In the past angst was around USA military support for Pakistan, which is now not as great with Pakistan getting most of its needs from China. One of my major customers in India was the Military Research Labs in Pune. With a belly full of Indian whisky, the Military commanders would give away all sorts of comments around Pakistan and US military joint operations. A lot has changed in the last 40 years.
US weaponised wheat food aid as an incentive to India for support in the Vietnam War. Millions died of starvation during an Indian drought. It’s well documented.
US later supplied weed contaminated wheat as food aid. That’s also well documented.
Indian farmers faced with debts use the suicide option to extinguish the debt.
Modi is now on collision course with small farmers, pulling the plug on national support measures in favour of larger scale agri business.
There continues to be control on consumer food prices. Onion prices used to be the marker, when Oz could export onions there.
There is extensive domestic corruption in agriculture , notably vote buying in Maharashtra State.
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I’m just repeating the vague memory I have of an angry rant from a pretty switched on Indian mate. The USA provided massive amounts of food aid for about 60 years. Reading between the lines in the Wikipedia article, I think my mate was angry about that food aid being used for blackmail. Do what we want or we cut the calories.
I’ll risk bringing it up again next time I see him.
Edit - what @bigallan said
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“affordable upgrade” - for a single-use product.
Adding wings before using it improves performance.
Of course I understand that. Just commenting that the sales pitch is like for consumer products, which usually have more than one use.
I heard it said that India used the weed argument to screw suppliers for better prices; China does the same.
In 1961, there was reports of contaminated wheat from Mexico, but cannot find any from USA.
Modi is a clever operator, and he will know that you do not get the farmers offside, or in fact the workers, as they have a history of direct action which gets very nasty.
We had family who ran a tea plantation in Northern India, and they left quickly when a labour dispute turned nasty and Managers were being murdered, or in the case at this plantation, castrated.
There is extensive corruption everywhere all over India, and you get involved in it at your peril.
Is Russia still supplying anything to India ?