Word: georgias
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...question now is whether this international love affair with Russia as a place to do business can continue. The shooting war in Georgia this month sent investors in Russian stocks rushing for the exit: the RTS stock index has sunk to its lowest level since November 2006 and is down 32% in the last three months. The fighting was the most deadly sign that Russia is not a predictable or stable investment environment, but it was by no means the only one. Along with the new geopolitical uncertainties, foreign businesses and investors are also grappling with signs of economic vulnerability...
...Western companies are talking publicly about revising their Russian investment strategies in the wake of the war with Georgia, and Russia watchers are sharply divided over whether there will be a medium- or long-term impact on economic ties with the West. BMW, for one, is proceeding apace with building its sales network there: by the end of this year, it aims to have a dealership in 47 Russian cities with populations of more than 300,000. One of the biggest corporate-investment programs, by Italy's Enel - which has spent about $6 billion on an effort to become...
...will ultimately prove counterproductive for the economy. In a note to clients, Commerzbank analyst Michael Ganske wrote: "The strong macroeconomic story of the country is increasingly obscured by homemade negative headlines and developments that clearly worsen the economic outlook for Russia." Ganske went so far as to call the Georgia war "a bloody next act in a screenplay that could be named 'how to destroy the investment story of one of the strongest credits in the emerging-markets universe...
...conflict with Georgia is undeniably "having an impact," agrees Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer who represents Russia's most famous economic victim: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who once headed the Yukos oil company. In 2003, Khodorkovsky was hounded out of business and he now languishes in a Siberian jail. "People who were among the most bullish on Russia are now ready to be the most aggressive in demonizing it," says Amsterdam...
...weeks," wrote analyst Vladimir Savov. "While warfare is never a good thing, fundamentally Russia's economy and infrastructure are not affected ... The likelihood of military involvement of other superpowers is below average. The situation may end soon, to be replaced by diplomatic negotiations." And even as bullets flew in Georgia, U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy took the first step toward expanding in Russia by registering its Future Shop trademark there...