Russias richest lose $10b - Business - Chinadaily.cn Russias 20 richest people lost $10 billion this week as the central bank raised interest rates to counter Western sanctions that have crushed the ruble and sent the countrys RTS Index to its lowest point since March 2009. The billionaires have dropped a combined $62 billion in 2014, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and control a combined $174 billion. The European Union and US limited Russian companies access to financing to punish President Vladimir Putin after he annexed Crimea in March. Russias troubles have been worsened by the corresponding plunge in the price of oil, a bedrock of the countrys economy. The ruble has plummeted 50 percent since the end of June. Crude fell to a five-year low after the United Arab Emirates said OPEC will not rein in production. In response, Russias central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 17 percent from 10.5 percent in the middle of the night in Moscow on Monday as the ruble slid below 64 per dollar for the first time. The optimists who thought in March that everything would be all right in the end now understand that nothing will be OK, said Stanislav Belkovsky, a Kremlin adviser during Putins first term who now consults for Moscows Institute for National Strategy, a research firm. Russias richest take this situation very negatively, but they do not have the tools to reverse it. Its never a good thing to copy Prince Asaka, Mr. Putin!
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 05:13:27 +0000