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While Russian business leaders and executives do not openly vent about tensions between Mosu and the West over Ukraine, behind the scenes some have told the Moscow Times their concern about this unfavorable business climate.
In Russian economic circles, the diplomatic tensions that plague the business climate are now on everyone’s lips. ” Second homes and residence permits in Europe, we are the ones with a lot to lose “, confides one of them to the Moscow Times. The problem is also professional with billions of rubles evaporating in the fall of the national currency, in the plunge of stock market indices.
The Russian currency passed the symbolic bar of 80 rubles to the dollar on Wednesday evening, a first since November 2020. The euro exceeded 90 rubles. A major tumble in the stock market and the ruble had already taken place on Monday, prompting the Russian central bank to intervene by announcing the suspension of the purchase of foreign currencies in an attempt to limit losses.
Stock indices and the foreign exchange market are weighed down by uncertainty around a possible war, with Westerners accusing Russia of preparing an invasion of Ukraine and threatening Moscow with particularly painful sanctions.
But in business circles, there is no question of complaining or triggering an outcry. If it is possible to publicly discuss decisions on the tax rate or investment programs, pronounce on foreign policy, it is niet. It’s an absolute red line and everyone sticks to it, reports our correspondent in Moscow, Anissa El-Jabri. Some reassure themselves as best they can: there is no break in the discussions, no signal that the war is definitely here.
The Russian business world has already gone through, in 2014, the annexation of Crimea, the fall in foreign investment and the imposition of sanctions. Loyalty to the state comes before business.
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