GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: John S on April 16, 2022, 09:40:56 AM
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He's had $13m already from Mazepin Snr for this season and sees no need to give it back. In fact he even wants $8.6m more. :swoon:
I have a bit of a difficulty with the morals of this; yes there's government imposed restrictions/embargoes on trade/business with Russia and many named Russians, but shouldn't such advanced sums be frozen or passed to government authorities. :confused:
Can US and other firms/individuals around the world simply keep monies paid to them in advance for services/goods they are no longer allowed to supply and use it as their own?
Remarkably the answer seems to be yes, am I the only one feeling rather uncomfortable about this.
https://f1i.com/news/438390-uralkali-wants-its-money-back-haas-wants-compensation.html
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We're not talking about just another Russian. The EU has described Dmitry Mazepin (Nikki's dad) as "a member of the closest circle of Vladimir Putin." Both Mazepins are listed by name on the EU sanctions list. Italy has seized Mazepin properties valued at $115 million.
The sanctions say don't allow any funds to be transferred to the listed individuals. As far as I can tell, no government has asked for any such assets held by third parties like Haas F1 to be turned over.
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On the one hand I agree it seems wrong to keep money for which you do not end up providing the services that were bought with it. Maybe he could donate it to a charity helping the Ukraine.
On the other hand, anyone who knows how business works in ex communist countries knows that this is a common and accepted part of the risk of business there. I doubt very much Mr Mazepin has honoured every one of his business contracts. In fact I would say it is impossible to become a billionaire in Putin's Russia without breaking a few contracts, and probably much much worse.
These guys are not nice people, have no morals and are very exploitative. I really wouldn't feel too sorry about Mazepin losing a bit of loose change to an F1 team. He's done far worse to others for sure.
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He's had $13m already from Mazepin Snr for this season and sees no need to give it back. In fact he even wants $8.6m more. :swoon:
I have a bit of a difficulty with the morals of this; yes there's government imposed restrictions/embargoes on trade/business with Russia and many named Russians, but shouldn't such advanced sums be frozen or passed to government authorities. :confused:
Can US and other firms/individuals around the world simply keep monies paid to them in advance for services/goods they are no longer allowed to supply and use it as their own?
Remarkably the answer seems to be yes, am I the only one feeling rather uncomfortable about this.
https://f1i.com/news/438390-uralkali-wants-its-money-back-haas-wants-compensation.html
Ethically, monies already paid cannot be frozen afterwards unless the monies themselves are considered to be part of a crime (which is not the case here - the payment was legal at the time it was made).
Naturally, Haas wouldn't be able to get the subsequent payment until the situation with Russia improves because it would have to be held in escrow by someone with responsibility for frozen accounts. However, Haas has every reason to want to be paid in full for any contractual obligations that were failed for avoidable reasons. (I don't think it's ethical to demand such money simply because of an embargo, so I am against Haas being paid for "loss of profits". However, it 100% could ask for that money in advance to be held in escrow in case relations improve and Nikita becomes an option. Upside: Nikita can concentrate on his dissertation, as he is in the final year of his degree at the moment, and possibly have something to look forward to if the Russian government sees sense in time).