Russia's Market Plunge May Temper Medvedev's Georgia Moves

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206…&refer=home

Russia's Market Plunge May Temper Medvedev's Georgia Moves

By Henry Meyer

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- When it comes to containing Russia, the invisible hand of the markets may be the West's most potent weapon.

Tightening access to international credit and mounting stock losses are hurting Russian billionaires as well as state- owned corporations, prompting calls by businessmen to heed Western complaints over Kremlin policy in Georgia.

The country's biggest business association, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, will raise the issue today at a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev, said Igor Yurgens, a board member and adviser to Medvedev.

``This is a natural alarm clock,'' Yurgens said in an interview. ``It's a concern to big owners, it's a concern to the Russian economy. There are limits to what Russia can do alone if it chooses to be isolated.''

Des détails chez Financial Times

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3255620c-8280-11…0077b07658.html

Russians face $45bn debt backlog

By Rachel Morarjee and David Oakley in London

Published: September 14 2008 18:27 | Last updated: September 14 2008 18:27

A backlog of $45bn in foreign debt held by Russian companies and banks needs to be refinanced by the end of the year amid increasingly difficult conditions as western investors reprice the risk of doing business in the country.

Many Russian companies held off raising debt this summer in the hope that the cost of money would decrease but there is now a backlog of $45bn in debt, according to Standard and Poor’s, the rating agency.

The debt market has already shut to third-tier borrowers and the cost of borrowing money in Russia has jumped 2-3 per cent even for blue-chip names, said Kingsmill Bond, strategist at Troika Dialog.

Smaller highly leveraged banks and companies in particular will face problems refinancing debt, with some facing potential defaults on bonds and loans.

Il semblerait que les interdépendances économiques conduisent à plus de modération géopolitique, non ?

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… Dans un premier temps, ça va enquiquiner certains.

Mais il ne faut pas se leurrer : quand les tensions augmentent brutalement, ça peut aussi déboucher sur des conflits ouverts. Ce qu'on ne peut avoir par le commerce, on peut aussi l'avoir par la force, surtout quand on sait qu'on a un très gros bâton.