Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 5, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin pointed to the dangerous instability of the global financial system. “The global economy has entered a period not simply of volatility but of strategic risks,” Sechin warned. “Problems are growing like a snowball. The abandonment of the fundamental principles of the Bretton Woods system linked to gold backing led to large-scale unsecured money issuance. Since 2008, the global money supply has increased by more than $30 trillion, with the United States and the eurozone accounting for nearly half of this amount.”
Sechin went on to point out that the explosive growth in capitalization of tech companies is leading to an enormous financial bubble and that US speculators like Black Rock, State Street, and Vanguard expect to benefit from the coming crisis:
“Over the past ten years, the share of the ten largest technology companies on the US stock market has tripled, exceeding 40%. Taking into account the expected IPOs of giants such as SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic, with combined valuations of several trillion dollars, this figure will approach 50%. It is obvious that the world stands on verge of the largest financial market bubble in history since the railroad boom in the United States in the 19th century.”
He also pointed out that the West’s strategy to pressure nations through sanctions and the chokepoint of the financial payment system is backfiring. “Sanctions are driving diversification of payment instruments,” Sechin observed. “Over the past five years, the volume of transactions carried out through China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System has increased more than threefold, reaching nearly 1 trillion yuan per day. The Hormuz crisis has significantly accelerated this process.”
He also proposed use of the Northern Sea Route as an important alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz: “From the standpoint of global trade needs, [the] Arctic plays a special role. Under these conditions, its importance becomes strategic not only as a resource base, but above all as a reliable logistics route. The Northern Sea Route can provide global trade with necessary transport solutions. This route allows us to reduce cargo delivery times to our partners by 1.5-2 times and lower costs by 20-30%.”
