Gennady Barsky

“War stops immediately”: Former US Secretary of State predicts Trump can create $500 billion lend-lease program for Ukraine

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Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has outlined what Donald Trump’s “peace plan” might look like if he wins the presidential election. It involves increasing military aid to Ukraine and its membership in the EU and NATO.

Source: Pompeo’s op-ed in The Wall Street Journal

Details: Pompeo said there is “no evidence” that Trump, if elected president, would push Ukraine towards capitulation. Instead, due to the “Biden administration’s weakness,” Ukraine finds itself with “cities destroyed, hundreds of thousands killed, and millions of refugees, and without the means to win”.

Pompeo believes that a “successful plan” for Ukraine from a future Trump administration might include the following points:

  • Unleash America’s energy potential, restore ties with Saudi Arabia and Israel, and work together against Iran.
  • Implement real sanctions against Russia, including the removal of exemptions for Russian banks involved in energy extraction – a crucial revenue source for the Kremlin’s military machine.
  • Expand the American defence industry and require NATO allies to spend at least 3% of their GDP on defence.
  • Establish a US$500 billion “lend-lease” programme for Ukraine, which involves providing military aid on a loan basis rather than as a grant.
  • Remove all restrictions on the types of weapons Ukraine can receive and use.

Quote: “These steps would position Mr. Trump to set the terms of a deal: The war stops immediately. Ukraine builds up substantial defence forces so Russia never attacks again. No one recognizes Russia’s occupation and claimed annexation of any Ukrainian territories,” Pompeo said.

Additionally, within this “peace plan,” Crimea would undergo demilitarisation (the author does not specify whether this means Russia would end its occupation). Ukraine would be rebuilt using frozen Russian assets and would join NATO and the EU as soon as possible. The Alliance would also create a US$100 billion fund to arm Kyiv, with the US contributing 20% of the total.

Quote: “If Russia complies with these terms, the West will gradually lift sanctions. They will be fully removed once Ukraine is in both NATO and the EU. These steps, and not the half-measures of the Biden administration, will end the war, establish a lasting peace, ensure Europe bears the burden of maintaining it, and re-establish freedom and security on the Continent,” Pompeo said.

Background:

  • Trump himself has previously claimed that he wants to end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours” and before he assumes the US presidency, but he has never detailed his “peace plan”. 
  • Last week, after a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he reiterated his desire to “bring peace to the world” by bringing Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table.

Cutting Russia off from SWIFT a “matter of days” – euro zone central banker

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PARIS, Feb 26 (Reuters) – A decision to cut Russia off from the global SWIFT payment system will be taken in a matter of days, the governor of a central bank within the euro zone told Reuters on Saturday.

“SWIFT is just a matter of time, very short time, days,” the central bank governor, who asked not to be named, said.

SOURCE REUTERS

What If Bill Gates Hadn’t Sold His Microsoft Shares?

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Gates had the equivalent of 2.06 billion shares in September 1998, when Microsoft first became the world’s most-valuable company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

He sold the vast majority of his stock before leaving the board in 2020. But if he had held on to it, it would have been valued at about $693 billion on Friday — easily outstripping the combined wealth of Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Link in bio.

SOURCE What If Bill Gates Hadn’t Sold His Microsoft (MSFT) Shares? – Bloomberg

VistaJet Buys an Uber for Private Jets

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By Lucca De Paoli

VistaJet Group Holding Ltd. has agreed to buy JetSmarter, an Uber-like service that connects travelers to empty seats on chartered planes.

JetSmarter operates via an app that’s been downloaded more than 2 million times, VistaJet said in a statement Wednesday. It didn’t give a price for the purchase, though JetSmarter, which has been backed by rap mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and the Saudi royal family, was valued at $1.6 billion in 2016.

The acquisition will be consolidated into the rest of VistaJet’s aviation business, providing faster access to its services, Steve Langman, co-founder of Rhone Capital, a private equity group that bought around 7 percent of VistaJet in 2017, said in the release.

VistaJet was founded by Swiss billionaire Thomas Flohr in 2004 while JetSmarter was established in 2012.

SOURCE Bloomberg

JetSmarter Expands Booking Capabilities to its Website

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The Private Jet Company continues to improve its flexibility in providing travel options as growth continues

PRESS RELEASE PR Newswire
Sept. 6, 2018, 08:00 AM

NEW YORK, Sept. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — JetSmarter, the world’s largest private aviation community, announces the launch of its new website and desktop booking capabilities, now available for the first time since the company’s launch in 2013.

For travelers looking for more flexibility when it comes to searching and booking private jet flights, now – in addition to the capabilities already available via the app – users can create a profile directly on JetSmarter’s homepage and search for flight options instantly.

The website’s new sleek design provides a complete outline of how to book travel with JetSmarter. Specifically, the Experience page showcases to first-time fliers what it’s like to fly with JetSmarter from start to finish, leading to the new Booking page, which encourages users to find seats on scheduled flights, or create their own flight from start to finish.  Travelers can create a flight by choosing the origin, date, time of departure and exact aircraft.  Additionally, users can book seats as a member or register to receive special offers on future flights.

Travelers who become members can also take advantage of JetSmarter’s 24/7 Concierge service to experience luxury perks, such as VIP access to events of their choice, exclusive discounts to five-star resorts, priority reservations at world-renown restaurants, and more.

“As we continue to grow as a brand, our goal is to create strategic, user-friendly offerings to make travel as seamless as possible for our community,” said Sergey Petrossov, Founder and CEO of JetSmarter. “Mobile bookings are ideal for our users because it stands with our motto of making travel easy and fun – as it should be.  Through our new website booking option, we’re able to provide our users with the perfect balance of choice and flexibility for booking travel.  As our business model grows, we will continue to evolve our methods by listening to the needs of the JetSmarter community.”

Additional website highlights include a section dedicated to JetSmarter’s newly branded fleet and preferred operator partners, where users can find information on a full spectrum of aircraft types that JetSmarter offers to provide the best air travel experience available on the market.

For more information on how to fly with JetSmarter, visit www.jetsmarter.com.

About JetSmarter

JetSmarter is a global community of fliers that prefer an elevated travel experience. We offer an innovative alternative to the dated and overpriced services offered in private aviation today; all while challenging the commercial aviation industry through competitive pricing and an unparalleled flight experience. Using a sharing economy model, JetSmarter gives users the unlimited ability to create flights on-demand or book individual seats on flights created by fellow fliers – all while saving thousands compared to traditional private travel.

JetSmarter does not own or operate any aircraft. All flights are performed by FAA-licensed and DOT-registered air carriers. For more information, visit jetsmarter.com

View original content with multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jetsmarter-expands-booking-capabilities-to-its-website-300707664.html

SOURCE JetSmarter

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JetSmarter Experiences Triple-Digit Growth in Seat Bookings, Dominating the Private Jet Sharing Economy

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PRESS RELEASE PR Newswire
Aug. 20, 2018, 03:50 PM

NEW YORK, Aug. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — JetSmarter, the world’s largest private aviation community, reports triple-digit growth in seat bookings, as the company continues its momentum of dominating the private jet-sharing economy.

Since its launch in 2013 as a members-only, on-demand flight sharing app, the platform has grown rapidly and evolved with additional features and services. Earlier this year, the company expanded its flights to the public, allowing non-members to create and share flights with other travelers, without the commitment and annual fee of membership. As a result, JetSmarter has experienced four-times month-over-month growth in the number of non-member seats booked on private jets since non-members were granted ability to access the services.

JetSmarter’s seat bookings have already grown by 116% year over year and shared flight frequency has also increased more than 20%. This growth is driven through on-demand flight creation where members and non-members alike can crowdsource flights on their own time.

A market leader in the flight-sharing economy, JetSmarter democratized private aviation by making private jet travel affordable and accessible. The JetSmarter experience remains unmatched in the industry as flyers can arrive at the terminal just 15 minutes before takeoff, skipping airport lines, and saving time while enjoying luxury travel from start to finish.

JetSmarter connects fliers to more than 300 weekly shared flights with over 800 air carrier partners globally and routes to and from 170+ countries worldwide. The platform will soon be adding desktop booking capabilities to provide on-demand searching and booking flexibility.

For more information on JetSmarter, visit www.jetsmarter.com.

About JetSmarter

JetSmarter is a global community of fliers that prefer an elevated travel experience. We offer an innovative alternative to the dated and overpriced services offered in private aviation today; all while challenging the commercial aviation industry through competitive pricing and an unparalleled flight experience. Using a sharing economy model, JetSmarter gives users the unlimited ability to create flights on-demand or book individual seats on flights created by fellow fliers – all while saving thousands compared to traditional private travel.

JetSmarter does not own or operate any aircraft. All flights are performed by FAA-licensed and DOT-registered air carriers. JetSmarter offers a number of programs including private charters, for which JetSmarter acts solely as an agent in arranging the flight, and Public Charters, for which JetSmarter acts as principal in buying and reselling the air transportation. Seats made available under the Public Charter Program are subject to the Public Charter rules contained in 14 CFR 380. For more information, visit jetsmarter.com

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jetsmarter-experiences-triple-digit-growth-in-seat-bookings-dominating-the-private-jet-sharing-economy-300699688.html

SOURCE JetSmarter