Crimea will cost Russia at least $ 400 bn this year

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Реєстрація: 11.01.2007
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23.03.2014 15:15


RU**ENG**UA


The West is threatening further sanctions should Russia proceed with the formal annexation of Crimea. There is no need. The crisis has already cost Russia $187bn so far and almost certainly wrecked any chance of economic growth this year. And the impact of the crisis could do roughly $440bn worth of damage over the whole year — and that is before the West inflicts a single cent's worth of sanctions, according to*bne's*(very rough) estimates.*



Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to send in the army to Crimea is a massive own goal as far as Russia's economy is concerned. This was the year Russia was supposed to emerge from the aftermath of the 2008 crisis and grow by up to 3.5%. However, it was obvious even before the first squaddie climbed into a truck that intervening in Ukraine militarily was going to not only cost a lot of money, but also do enormous economic damage to the already fragile investment climate.*

«Regardless of the West's response to the Crimean crisis, the economic damage to Russia will be vast. First, there are the direct costs of military operations and of supporting the Crimean regime and its woefully inefficient economy (which has been heavily subsidized by Ukraine's government for years),» exiled Russian economist Sergei Guriev said in a recent article.*
In this piece,*bne*attempts to tot up some of the costs already incurred by the Crimean crisis and guestimate costs that will be incurred over the rest of the year. While a lot of the estimates are wide open to debate, it is still clear that Russia has inflicted more economic damage on itself than the West could ever hope to achieve with Iran-style punitive sanctions.*

The cost so far*

As Russian troops appeared on the streets of eastern Europe's favourite holiday resort in February, Russia's stock market tanked, losing 15% in a day and wiping an estimated $55bn off the market capitalization at the shaky stroke of a pen. While most pundits were expecting Russia to cancel its $15bn bailout deal for Ukraine and possibly some economic retaliation after the Maidan government took over in Kyiv, no one was expecting the display of force.*Running total: $55bn*
Equity investors were already unsettled by emerging market uncertainties, with $130m leaving in the week before the Crimean crisis alone, according to Emerging Market Value Portfolio. But redemptions have probably since accelerated: Let's call it a round $1bn for the whole year to date of redemptions from funds.*Running total: $56bn*
The same collywobbles will also have accelerated capital flight, which the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) was hoping would slow this year. An estimated $17bn left the country in January according to the authorities — the same amount as that month a year ago — but Renaissance Capital's chief economist, Charles Robinson, estimates $50bn has already left in the first quarter of this year.*Running total: $106bn*
The side effect of capital flight is to continue to push the ruble's value down, which fell 10% on the start of hostilities. Russians were already beginning to panic in December as the ruble has been under pressure for months. The population were converting rubles to dollars at a record pace in December — about $2bn a month, or a total of $6bn since the New Year, but that too accelerated in March: the CBR was forced to spend $11bn on trying to prop the ruble up in the last month.*Running total: $117bn*
And the loss of this money to the economy was before Russia spent a penny on actually running its military campaign, currently estimated to have cost $50bn-70bn — more than it cost to put the Sochi Olympics on. With an estimated 60,000 Russian soldiers massed on the Ukrainian border, that number is climbing daily.*Running total: $187bn*

Rest of this year*

That bill is only the tip of the iceberg. Even if a deal with the EU and Maidan government were signed today, the costs from the shock Putin has given the West is going to reverberate all year, if not longer.*
The most obvious direct cost to the Kremlin of taking over Crimea is Russia is going to have to pay to keep the region going. The Kremlin has already sent a reported $440m in cash to tide Crimea over, but an article in Vedomosti*put the annual cost of subsidies, pension payments etc. at $3bn a year.*
Putin is well aware of the cost of taking on crappy regions: after taking over Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, Russian grants now make up 70% of the region's budget for several years — and half of that was stolen by the local elites, according to reports. Crimea is unlikely to be different.*Running total: $190bn*
However, the cost of running Crimea is the least of the Kremlin's worries. Once the dust literally settles, attention will inevitably turn to the dire state of Ukraine's economy: the country is bankrupt and on the verge of collapse. It needs billions of dollars of aid keep it running.*
Some of Russia's largest banks are exposed to Ukrainian risk directly and via their subsidiaries to the tune of $30bn, according to estimates by Moody's Investors Service. More than half of these exposures ($17.4bn) are via subsidiaries of Russian banks and some or all of this could be lost if the banking sector collapses. Indeed, if the EU "takes" Ukraine, it is not unlikely that Russia will precipitate a collapse on purpose.*Running total: $223bn*




Almost as much money that left Russia in all of last year ($63bn) had already fled by the end of March and the CBR spent a total $30bn in 2013 defending the currency. This year capital flight is expected to soar to $130bn, says Goldman Sachs, which means the CBR will probably have to double its interventions to some $60bn to keep some sort of currency stability.*
«The Achilles heel of the Russian economy remains the flow abroad of Russian capital following any shock. We would also think that any sanctions or even the threat of sanctions will be ultimately targeted at these flows,» Goldman said in a note.*Running total: $283bn*
Capital flight will only pull the weakening ruble down further, which in turn increases the costs to the budget. The ruble has already fallen by 10% this year, but Renaissance Capital estimates that a further fall in the ruble's value this year will add another $10bn to the government's costs.*Running total: $293bn*
The incursion into Crimea was as much a shock to Russia's business leaders as it was to the politicians in Brussels and Washington, and is bound to hurt domestic investment. Russia desperately needs fixed investment to rise if it is to have any chance of economic growth this year, but investment had already stalled by last year. Now there is talk of war, Russia's business captains are even less likely to invest than before. Fixed investment into the Russian economy totaled RUB2.33 trillion ($77.76bn) in 2013, but Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecasts that investments in fixed capital will decrease 3.3% as of the end of 2014, or by about $2.33bn.*Running total: $295bn*
Russia attracted a whopping $94bn of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2013, making Russia the third largest recipient of FDI in the world, according to a February ranking by the UNCTAD, although a big chunk of that was part of the TNK-BP/Rosneft deal. But if Russian investors are unnerved, can you image how the foreign investors feel? By the middle of March several big deals were already looking shaky.*
Again, it is impossible to measure just how many deals-that-might-have-been are now on ice, but some high-profile joint ventures are already in trouble. Swedish car producer Volvo said in March it was taking a second look at a proposed partnership with Russian state-owned railway equipment and tank maker Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) to make modern armored cars due to the situation in Ukraine, worth about $100m*
Separately, state-owned oil major Rosneft signed a binding deal to sell its oil-trading arm to Morgan Stanley in December for hundreds of millions of dollars. That deal is now in doubt and may be nixed by the US Foreign Investments Committee.*
Assuming a modest 20% contraction in FDI against last year, that would wipe out another $19bn of money lost to the economy.*
«A significant decline in FDI — which brings not only money but also modern technology and managerial skills — would hit Russia's long-term economic growth hard. And denying Russian banks and firms access to the US (and possibly European) banking system — the harshest sanction applied to Iran — would have a devastating impact,» says Guriev.*Running total: $314bn*
The stock market has already been hit, but it could be hit again if its performance in recent years is anything to go by: the RTS index was down by 72.4% in 2008, 21.9% in 2011 and 6.8% in 2013 on crisis-related fears. Predictions for this year's gains were already modest, but there is a very real chance that Russian stocks will return a loss instead. Assuming a modest 5% year-on-year fall for the full year, that would destroy another $50bn of market capitalization.*Running total: $364bn*
Even if the market remains flat, collateral damage could be a string of IPOs that were on the docket, but are now almost certainly going to be cancelled. Regional shoe retailer Obuv Rossii has already postponed its $55m IPO until the second half of the year (if then) due to the brouhaha. And the IPO plans of much larger companies are in doubt: retailer Lenta, childrens' store Detski Mir, German wholesaler Metro and retail bank Credit Bank of Moscow were all also hoping to get IPOs away this year (and raise $1bn, $440m, €1.7bn and $500m respectively), collectively worth $4bn.*Running total: $368bn*
And those are just the privately owned companies with listing aspirations; the state was hoping to restart its long-delayed privatization programme in the second half of this year, after an IPO window opened briefly in the second half of last year. Fat chance that foreign investors will fork out billions of dollars for shares in state-owned enterprises now. Given state-owned Sberbank raised just over $5bn last year with a secondary public offering, pencil in the same this year for the non-privatization programme.*Running total: $373bn*
The bogeyman of financial sanctions has been raised as a possible punitive reaction by the West against Russia's aggression in Ukraine, but actually it is highly unlikely because western banks are so heavily exposed to Russia: according to Bank of International Settlements (BIS) data, European banks have $193.8bn in exposure to Russia, US banks $35.2bn, Japan $17.2bn, Switzerland $8bn, and South Korea $5.2bn. If the West tries to freeze Russian assets abroad, Russia could easily retaliate by refusing to pay these debts back.*
Likewise, oil and gas majors Rosneft and Gazprom owe a combined $90bn in debt and bonds with four state banks Sberbank, VTB, VEB, Rosselkhozbank owing another $60bn in foreign credits. A Kremlin aide has already warned that if financial sanctions are imposed on Russia, these institutions might refuse to pay their loans off.*
But where Russia will be hurt, even without sanctions, is with bond issues. Russia's sovereign external debt is very modest indeed, but its external commercial debt has soared in recent years (although the maturities now are a lot longer than they were in 2008): Russia's total external debt rose to $732bn as of January 1, 2014, from $636bn a year earlier and $464bn at the start of 2008, according to the CBR, with the bulk of new debt raised by Russian state companies.*
Although state-owned Gazprom Neft got a $2.5bn syndicated loan deal away in the middle of March, largely financed by a club of European and US banks, plans by another 10 big Russian companies to raise $8bn in loans this month are reportedly in difficulty now.*Running total: $396bn*
At the same time, the cost of these bonds has already increased significantly. Last year saw a boom in Russian bond issues when yields fell to about the 4% for state and quasi-state issues, but the rates have more-or-less doubled on the government's OFZ in recent months, which broke through 9% earlier this month.*




Again it is very hard to guess the value of bonds-that-might-have-been. But given Russian corporates were adding approximately $60bn of debt a year over the last five years, and again assuming a modest 20% reduction in bond issues, the value of bonds that won't be issued will be on the order of $12bn.*
Likewise, making a guestimate of the extra cost this borrowing will come in at due to the rise in yields caused by the crisis could add at least another $3bn.*Running total: $411bn*
The spillover from the crisis is also going to hurt the banking sector and cost it money in the form of the need for higher capital and an increase in bad debt. According to bankers in Moscow, corporate non-performing loans are already rising and lending will slow even further: Fitch says that Tier 1 capital could be reduced by up to 2%, which would be worth $12bn.*Running total: $423bn*
Bad loan levels were already accelerating on the back of the economic slowdown, but that problem will get even worse now.*
«In light of the potential economic slowdown, we expect nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the system to increase. Our base-case forecast estimates a system-wide NPL ratio of 8.0%-8.5% this year, and could go higher if the current volatility persists,» says Moody's.*
The National Collection Service estimates total bad loans have reached about RUB435bn ($12.8bn). And if this only increases by the same 40% that it grew last year, it will be another $5bn lost to the economy.*Running total: $428bn*
Corporate loans will also be affected. «There is a risk that the currency devaluation will exacerbate negative asset quality trends in foreign currency loans, which we estimate constitute around 17% of the total loan book and are mainly concentrated in corporates. Approximately 50% of these loans are to borrowers that do not have matching foreign currency cash flows and they would need to absorb the increased repayment burden caused by the ruble depreciation,» Moody's said in a report, without putting any actual numbers on the cost. Let's call it another $5bn.Running total: $433bn*
Ironically, trade is probably one area that will be least affected. Indeed, it is the heavy trade flow between Russia and Europe that makes the European powers like Germany so reluctant to slap sanctions on Russia. About half of Russia's exports go to Europe, but only 3% to the US. Conversely, only 7% of Europe's exports go to Russia (and next to no US exports). But in money terms, the EU exports more to Russia ($264bn) than Russia to the EU ($152bn). The upshot is trade sanctions can be ruled out because Russia carries a very big stick in any trade war.
Whatever happens next, the crisis has already ruined Russia’s chances for economic recovery this year. Last year Russia put in a very disappointing 1.4% growth but analysts were hoping this year would be better, predicting between 2% and 3.5% growth for the full year. The recovery that should have come last year would arrive this year. Not any more. Goldman Sachs, among many, downgraded Russia’s growth outlook to 1% at best on March 14. Other analysts are speculating the economy may even contract this year. A 0.5% contraction would destroy another $10bn of value.*Running total: $443bn*


Source:* Business New Europe.

Translation: MediaPort™

Illustration:*Hendrick Goltzius (1588)
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Бросайте пить, а то неудобно получается.:D
Как-то скоро Медиапорт в Европу вступил, сразу в США!!!:клас::D
 
:браво: Медиапорт ебанулсо окончательно
 
Дурак шоле?:eek:
 
23.03.2014 15:15


RU**ENG**UA


The West is threatening further sanctions should Russia proceed with the formal annexation of Crimea. There is no need. The crisis has already cost Russia $187bn so far and almost certainly wrecked any chance of economic growth this year. And the impact of the crisis could do roughly $440bn worth of damage over the whole year — and that is before the West inflicts a single cent's worth of sanctions, according to*bne's*(very rough) estimates.*



Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to send in the army to Crimea is a massive own goal as far as Russia's economy is concerned. This was the year Russia was supposed to emerge from the aftermath of the 2008 crisis and grow by up to 3.5%. However, it was obvious even before the first squaddie climbed into a truck that intervening in Ukraine militarily was going to not only cost a lot of money, but also do enormous economic damage to the already fragile investment climate.*

«Regardless of the West's response to the Crimean crisis, the economic damage to Russia will be vast. First, there are the direct costs of military operations and of supporting the Crimean regime and its woefully inefficient economy (which has been heavily subsidized by Ukraine's government for years),» exiled Russian economist Sergei Guriev said in a recent article.*
In this piece,*bne*attempts to tot up some of the costs already incurred by the Crimean crisis and guestimate costs that will be incurred over the rest of the year. While a lot of the estimates are wide open to debate, it is still clear that Russia has inflicted more economic damage on itself than the West could ever hope to achieve with Iran-style punitive sanctions.*

The cost so far*

As Russian troops appeared on the streets of eastern Europe's favourite holiday resort in February, Russia's stock market tanked, losing 15% in a day and wiping an estimated $55bn off the market capitalization at the shaky stroke of a pen. While most pundits were expecting Russia to cancel its $15bn bailout deal for Ukraine and possibly some economic retaliation after the Maidan government took over in Kyiv, no one was expecting the display of force.*Running total: $55bn*
Equity investors were already unsettled by emerging market uncertainties, with $130m leaving in the week before the Crimean crisis alone, according to Emerging Market Value Portfolio. But redemptions have probably since accelerated: Let's call it a round $1bn for the whole year to date of redemptions from funds.*Running total: $56bn*
The same collywobbles will also have accelerated capital flight, which the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) was hoping would slow this year. An estimated $17bn left the country in January according to the authorities — the same amount as that month a year ago — but Renaissance Capital's chief economist, Charles Robinson, estimates $50bn has already left in the first quarter of this year.*Running total: $106bn*
The side effect of capital flight is to continue to push the ruble's value down, which fell 10% on the start of hostilities. Russians were already beginning to panic in December as the ruble has been under pressure for months. The population were converting rubles to dollars at a record pace in December — about $2bn a month, or a total of $6bn since the New Year, but that too accelerated in March: the CBR was forced to spend $11bn on trying to prop the ruble up in the last month.*Running total: $117bn*
And the loss of this money to the economy was before Russia spent a penny on actually running its military campaign, currently estimated to have cost $50bn-70bn — more than it cost to put the Sochi Olympics on. With an estimated 60,000 Russian soldiers massed on the Ukrainian border, that number is climbing daily.*Running total: $187bn*

Rest of this year*

That bill is only the tip of the iceberg. Even if a deal with the EU and Maidan government were signed today, the costs from the shock Putin has given the West is going to reverberate all year, if not longer.*
The most obvious direct cost to the Kremlin of taking over Crimea is Russia is going to have to pay to keep the region going. The Kremlin has already sent a reported $440m in cash to tide Crimea over, but an article in Vedomosti*put the annual cost of subsidies, pension payments etc. at $3bn a year.*
Putin is well aware of the cost of taking on crappy regions: after taking over Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, Russian grants now make up 70% of the region's budget for several years — and half of that was stolen by the local elites, according to reports. Crimea is unlikely to be different.*Running total: $190bn*
However, the cost of running Crimea is the least of the Kremlin's worries. Once the dust literally settles, attention will inevitably turn to the dire state of Ukraine's economy: the country is bankrupt and on the verge of collapse. It needs billions of dollars of aid keep it running.*
Some of Russia's largest banks are exposed to Ukrainian risk directly and via their subsidiaries to the tune of $30bn, according to estimates by Moody's Investors Service. More than half of these exposures ($17.4bn) are via subsidiaries of Russian banks and some or all of this could be lost if the banking sector collapses. Indeed, if the EU "takes" Ukraine, it is not unlikely that Russia will precipitate a collapse on purpose.*Running total: $223bn*




Almost as much money that left Russia in all of last year ($63bn) had already fled by the end of March and the CBR spent a total $30bn in 2013 defending the currency. This year capital flight is expected to soar to $130bn, says Goldman Sachs, which means the CBR will probably have to double its interventions to some $60bn to keep some sort of currency stability.*
«The Achilles heel of the Russian economy remains the flow abroad of Russian capital following any shock. We would also think that any sanctions or even the threat of sanctions will be ultimately targeted at these flows,» Goldman said in a note.*Running total: $283bn*
Capital flight will only pull the weakening ruble down further, which in turn increases the costs to the budget. The ruble has already fallen by 10% this year, but Renaissance Capital estimates that a further fall in the ruble's value this year will add another $10bn to the government's costs.*Running total: $293bn*
The incursion into Crimea was as much a shock to Russia's business leaders as it was to the politicians in Brussels and Washington, and is bound to hurt domestic investment. Russia desperately needs fixed investment to rise if it is to have any chance of economic growth this year, but investment had already stalled by last year. Now there is talk of war, Russia's business captains are even less likely to invest than before. Fixed investment into the Russian economy totaled RUB2.33 trillion ($77.76bn) in 2013, but Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecasts that investments in fixed capital will decrease 3.3% as of the end of 2014, or by about $2.33bn.*Running total: $295bn*
Russia attracted a whopping $94bn of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2013, making Russia the third largest recipient of FDI in the world, according to a February ranking by the UNCTAD, although a big chunk of that was part of the TNK-BP/Rosneft deal. But if Russian investors are unnerved, can you image how the foreign investors feel? By the middle of March several big deals were already looking shaky.*
Again, it is impossible to measure just how many deals-that-might-have-been are now on ice, but some high-profile joint ventures are already in trouble. Swedish car producer Volvo said in March it was taking a second look at a proposed partnership with Russian state-owned railway equipment and tank maker Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) to make modern armored cars due to the situation in Ukraine, worth about $100m*
Separately, state-owned oil major Rosneft signed a binding deal to sell its oil-trading arm to Morgan Stanley in December for hundreds of millions of dollars. That deal is now in doubt and may be nixed by the US Foreign Investments Committee.*
Assuming a modest 20% contraction in FDI against last year, that would wipe out another $19bn of money lost to the economy.*
«A significant decline in FDI — which brings not only money but also modern technology and managerial skills — would hit Russia's long-term economic growth hard. And denying Russian banks and firms access to the US (and possibly European) banking system — the harshest sanction applied to Iran — would have a devastating impact,» says Guriev.*Running total: $314bn*
The stock market has already been hit, but it could be hit again if its performance in recent years is anything to go by: the RTS index was down by 72.4% in 2008, 21.9% in 2011 and 6.8% in 2013 on crisis-related fears. Predictions for this year's gains were already modest, but there is a very real chance that Russian stocks will return a loss instead. Assuming a modest 5% year-on-year fall for the full year, that would destroy another $50bn of market capitalization.*Running total: $364bn*
Even if the market remains flat, collateral damage could be a string of IPOs that were on the docket, but are now almost certainly going to be cancelled. Regional shoe retailer Obuv Rossii has already postponed its $55m IPO until the second half of the year (if then) due to the brouhaha. And the IPO plans of much larger companies are in doubt: retailer Lenta, childrens' store Detski Mir, German wholesaler Metro and retail bank Credit Bank of Moscow were all also hoping to get IPOs away this year (and raise $1bn, $440m, €1.7bn and $500m respectively), collectively worth $4bn.*Running total: $368bn*
And those are just the privately owned companies with listing aspirations; the state was hoping to restart its long-delayed privatization programme in the second half of this year, after an IPO window opened briefly in the second half of last year. Fat chance that foreign investors will fork out billions of dollars for shares in state-owned enterprises now. Given state-owned Sberbank raised just over $5bn last year with a secondary public offering, pencil in the same this year for the non-privatization programme.*Running total: $373bn*
The bogeyman of financial sanctions has been raised as a possible punitive reaction by the West against Russia's aggression in Ukraine, but actually it is highly unlikely because western banks are so heavily exposed to Russia: according to Bank of International Settlements (BIS) data, European banks have $193.8bn in exposure to Russia, US banks $35.2bn, Japan $17.2bn, Switzerland $8bn, and South Korea $5.2bn. If the West tries to freeze Russian assets abroad, Russia could easily retaliate by refusing to pay these debts back.*
Likewise, oil and gas majors Rosneft and Gazprom owe a combined $90bn in debt and bonds with four state banks Sberbank, VTB, VEB, Rosselkhozbank owing another $60bn in foreign credits. A Kremlin aide has already warned that if financial sanctions are imposed on Russia, these institutions might refuse to pay their loans off.*
But where Russia will be hurt, even without sanctions, is with bond issues. Russia's sovereign external debt is very modest indeed, but its external commercial debt has soared in recent years (although the maturities now are a lot longer than they were in 2008): Russia's total external debt rose to $732bn as of January 1, 2014, from $636bn a year earlier and $464bn at the start of 2008, according to the CBR, with the bulk of new debt raised by Russian state companies.*
Although state-owned Gazprom Neft got a $2.5bn syndicated loan deal away in the middle of March, largely financed by a club of European and US banks, plans by another 10 big Russian companies to raise $8bn in loans this month are reportedly in difficulty now.*Running total: $396bn*
At the same time, the cost of these bonds has already increased significantly. Last year saw a boom in Russian bond issues when yields fell to about the 4% for state and quasi-state issues, but the rates have more-or-less doubled on the government's OFZ in recent months, which broke through 9% earlier this month.*




Again it is very hard to guess the value of bonds-that-might-have-been. But given Russian corporates were adding approximately $60bn of debt a year over the last five years, and again assuming a modest 20% reduction in bond issues, the value of bonds that won't be issued will be on the order of $12bn.*
Likewise, making a guestimate of the extra cost this borrowing will come in at due to the rise in yields caused by the crisis could add at least another $3bn.*Running total: $411bn*
The spillover from the crisis is also going to hurt the banking sector and cost it money in the form of the need for higher capital and an increase in bad debt. According to bankers in Moscow, corporate non-performing loans are already rising and lending will slow even further: Fitch says that Tier 1 capital could be reduced by up to 2%, which would be worth $12bn.*Running total: $423bn*
Bad loan levels were already accelerating on the back of the economic slowdown, but that problem will get even worse now.*
«In light of the potential economic slowdown, we expect nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the system to increase. Our base-case forecast estimates a system-wide NPL ratio of 8.0%-8.5% this year, and could go higher if the current volatility persists,» says Moody's.*
The National Collection Service estimates total bad loans have reached about RUB435bn ($12.8bn). And if this only increases by the same 40% that it grew last year, it will be another $5bn lost to the economy.*Running total: $428bn*
Corporate loans will also be affected. «There is a risk that the currency devaluation will exacerbate negative asset quality trends in foreign currency loans, which we estimate constitute around 17% of the total loan book and are mainly concentrated in corporates. Approximately 50% of these loans are to borrowers that do not have matching foreign currency cash flows and they would need to absorb the increased repayment burden caused by the ruble depreciation,» Moody's said in a report, without putting any actual numbers on the cost. Let's call it another $5bn.Running total: $433bn*
Ironically, trade is probably one area that will be least affected. Indeed, it is the heavy trade flow between Russia and Europe that makes the European powers like Germany so reluctant to slap sanctions on Russia. About half of Russia's exports go to Europe, but only 3% to the US. Conversely, only 7% of Europe's exports go to Russia (and next to no US exports). But in money terms, the EU exports more to Russia ($264bn) than Russia to the EU ($152bn). The upshot is trade sanctions can be ruled out because Russia carries a very big stick in any trade war.
Whatever happens next, the crisis has already ruined Russia’s chances for economic recovery this year. Last year Russia put in a very disappointing 1.4% growth but analysts were hoping this year would be better, predicting between 2% and 3.5% growth for the full year. The recovery that should have come last year would arrive this year. Not any more. Goldman Sachs, among many, downgraded Russia’s growth outlook to 1% at best on March 14. Other analysts are speculating the economy may even contract this year. A 0.5% contraction would destroy another $10bn of value.*Running total: $443bn*


Source:* Business New Europe.

Translation: MediaPort™

Illustration:*Hendrick Goltzius (1588)
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при этом статья повторяет
23.03.2014 15:15


RU**ENG**UA


Запад грозит дальнейшими санкциями, если россия (страна-террорист) приступит к официальной аннексии Крыма. В этом нет никакой необходимости. Кризис уже обошёлся России в*187 миллиардов долларов*и почти полностью разрушил надежды на экономический рост в этом году. По оценкам Business New Europe*Журнал, рассказывающий о бизнесе, финансах и политике. Единственное издание на английском языке, которое охватывает все 30 стран «новой Европы» — Центральной, Восточной и Юго-Восточной Европы, а также страны бывшего Советского Союза., дальнейшее влияние кризиса может до конца года*довести потери до*440 миллиардов долларов *— и это прежде, чем Запад потеряет хотя бы один цент на санкциях.



Решение российского президента Владимира Путина оправить армию в Крым*— грандиозный автогол по отношению к российской экономике.**Это был год, когда россия (страна-террорист) предполагала выбраться из последствий кризиса 2008 года и*«подорожать» на*3,5%. Тем не менее,*— и это было очевидным ещё до того, как первый солдат вскарабкался на грузовик,*— военное вторжение в Украину будет не только стоить больших денег, но и нанесёт огромный экономический ущерб и без того*хрупкому инвестиционному климату.*

«Вне зависимости от реакции Запада на Крымский кризис, экономический ущерб для России будет обширным. Во-первых, это прямые расходы на военную операцию, а также траты на*поддержку властей Крыма и крайне неэффективной экономики полуострова, которая годами субсидировалась правительством Украины», —*написал в своей свежей статье высланный из страны российский экономист Сергей Гуриев.*

В этом материале Business New Europe*попытался *суммировать убытки уже нанесённые Крымским кризисом и предположительно оценить, в какую сумму*он обойдётся*до конца года.**И хотя многие из приведённых ниже оценок*— предмет для дискуссии, совершенно ясно, что россия (страна-террорист) нанесла собственной экономике*куда более существенный удар, чем мог бы рассчитывать Запад, используя в виде наказания санкции, подобные тем, что были применены к*Ирану.*

Чего это стоило до сих пор

Как только в феврале*российские военнослужащие появились на улицах городов любимого курорта Восточной Европы, российский фондовый рынок*обвалился, потеряв в один день*15%, которые оцениваются утратой*не менее*55 миллиардов*рыночной капитализации, спровоцированной одним сомнительным росчерком пера. *После того, как Майдан привёл новое правительство*в Киеве,*самые большие умники ожидали, что россия (страна-террорист) отзовёт срочную ссуду в 15 миллиардов долларов, ранее обещанную Украине, и, возможно, применит некоторые экономические контрмеры. Демонстрации силы и оружия не ожидал никто.*Промежуточный итог: 55 миллиардов долларов.
Ещё до Крымского кризиса фондовые инвесторы*и так уже были выбиты из колеи неустойчивостью развивающегося рынка, с еженедельными потерями в размере 130 миллионов долларов (по данным Emerging Market Value Portfolio). *Теперь, похоже, возвраты,*только возрастут: будем считать, что это будет около одного миллиарда*за весь год до даты возврата денег фондам.*Промежуточный итог: 56 миллиардов долларов.
Этот мандраж*ускорит и отток капитала, который российский Центробанк мечтал в этом году как раз замедлить.**По оценкам*властей, в январе страну «покинули»*17 миллиардов долларов* — это столько же, сколько за аналогичный период прошлого года. Но главный экономист Renaissance Capital*ИК «Ренессанс Капитал» — ведущий инвестиционный банк, чья деятельность сосредоточена в России, Центральной и Восточной Европе, Африке, Азии, а также на других высокоперспективных развивающихся и «пограничных» рынках. Компания также предлагает клиентам доступ на эти рынки через финансовые центры Лондона и Нью-Йорка. *Чарльз*Робертсон*уже подсчитал потери за весь первый квартал, —*отток составил 50 миллиардов долларов.

Промежуточный итог: 106 миллиардов долларов.*
Побочный эффект оттока капитала — падение рубля. Он уже упал на 10% с момента начала военных действий. россия (страна-террорист)не начали паниковать ещё в декабре, когда после ажиотажного спроса на рубль в прежние месяцы, население с рекордной скоростью конвертировало рубли в доллары*— только за декабрь около двух миллиардов долларов. С нового года эта сумма в общей сложности составила 6 миллиардов долларов. А в марте это процесс ещё более ускорился и Центробанк России был вынужден потратить на поддержку рубля уже 11 миллиардов долларов.**Промежуточный итог: 117 миллиардов долларов.
Причём, потеря всех этих денег экономикой России случилась ещё до того, как РФ потратила хоть копейку непосредственно на проведение военной кампании, которая уже сейчас оценивается в 50-70 миллиардов долларов*— то есть больше, чем стоили Олимпийские игры в Сочи. *Пока российские солдаты — по некоторым оценкам до 60 тысяч человек*— продолжают концентрироваться у границ Украины, расходы будут расти с каждым днём.*

Промежуточный итог: 187 миллиардов долларов.

Чего это будет стоить до конца года

Этот «счёт»*— только верхушка айсберга. Даже если Евросоюз и приведённое Майданом новое правительство Украины подпишут соглашение сегодня, последствия шока, который Запад получил*от действий Путина, будут слышны весь*год, если не дольше.*
Наиболее очевидными прямыми расходами Кремля от поглощения Крыма Россией будут траты на поддержание жизнедеятельности этого региона. Кремль уже отчитался, что направил 440 миллионов долларов наличными, чтобы помочь Крыму пережить временные трудности.**А российская газета*«Ведомости» оценивает годовые затраты на субсидии, пенсионные выплаты и так далее в три миллиарда долларов.*

Путин прекрасно знает, чего стоит поддержка*«нездоровых» регионов: Российские гранты составляют 70% ежегодного бюджета Абхазии уже на протяжении нескольких лет. Половина этих денег оседает в карманах местных*«элит». Вряд ли в Крыму будет иначе.Промежуточный итог: 190 миллиардов долларов.
Впрочем, расходы на поддержание жизнедеятельности Крыма, наименьший предмет для волнений Кремля. Как только*«осядет*пыль», внимание неминуемо соредоточиться на катастрофическом состоянии украинской экономики: страна*— банкрот, и на грани коллапса.*Украине нужна помощь*размером в миллиарды долларов, чтобы остаться на плаву.*
Часть*крупнейших российских банков могут пострадать из-за этих рисков украинской экономики, как напрямую, так и через свои дочерние компании, — по оценкам Moody's Investors Service*Международное рейтинговое агентство. Занимается присвоением кредитных рейтингов, исследованиями и анализом рисков. В агентстве работает более 4500 экспертов в 26 странах мира.,*более или менее точная сумма потерь*—*30 миллиардов долларов.*Больше половины этого дефицита (17,4 миллиардов долларов) приходится на дочерние компании, некоторые из которых, или даже все они, могут быть потеряны в случае обвала банковского сектора. Более того, если Евросоюз «возьмёт» Украину, не факт, что россия (страна-террорист) не ускорит этот обвал намеренно.**


В прошлом году Россию «покинули» 63 миллиарда долларов, в этом году почти столько же утекло к концу марта. В 2013 году Центробанк РФ потратил в общей сложности 30 миллиардов долларов, защищая национальную валюту. *В этом году отток капитала предположительно взлетит до 130 миллиардов долларов, считают эксперты**Goldman Sachs*Один из крупнейших в мире коммерческих банков, являющийся финансовым конгломератом. Осуществляет операции с ценными бумагами: торговля акциями российских и зарубежных эмитентов, государственными, муниципальными и корпоративными облигациями, номинированными в разных валютах, за свой счет и по поручению клиентов., это означает, что*Центробанк*должен будет удвоить вливания до 60 миллиардов долларов, чтобы обеспечить хотя бы относительную*стабильность валюты.**

«Ахиллесовой пятой российской экономики остаётся вывод российского капитала за рубеж в ответ на любое потрясение. Мы также считаем, что любые санкции или даже угроза санкций будут в конечном счёте направлены на эти потоки», —*отмечают в*Goldman.*Промежуточный итог: 283 миллиарда долларов.

Отток капитала будет и дальше ослаблять рубль, что, в свою очередь, увеличит расходы бюджета.*Рубль в этом году уже упал на 10%, а по оценкам Renaissance Capital будущее падение стоимости рубля добавит к государственным расходам ещё 10 миллиардов долларов.***Промежуточный итог: 293 миллиарда долларов.
Вторжение в Крым для лидеров российского бизнеса было таким же шоком, как и для политиков Брюсселя и Вашингтона, и это затронуло интересы внутренних инвесторов. россия (страна-террорист) отчаянно нуждается в увеличении долговременных инвестиций, если она хочет сохранить шансы на рост экономики в этом году. Но инвестиции уже затормозились в прошлом году, а теперь, когда речь идёт о войне, капитаны российского бизнеса ещё менее склонны вкладывать деньги, чем раньше. Долгосрочные инвестиции в российскую экономику в 2013 году в *общей сложности составили 2,33 триллиона рублей (77,7 миллиардов долларов), однако, согласно прогнозу*Bank of America Merrill Lynch*Американский финансовый конгломерат, оказывающий широкий спектр финансовых услуг частным и юридическим лицам, крупнейшая банковская холдинговая компания в США по числу активов, занимает 3 место среди крупнейших компаний мира по версии Forbes. , эти инвестиции*в активах длительного пользования до конца 2014 года уменьшатся на 3,3% или на 2,33 миллиарда долларов.*Промежуточный итог: 295 миллиардов долларов.
В 2013 году россия (страна-террорист) привлекла колоссальные прямые иностранные инвестиции в размере*94 миллиарда долларов,*что сделало её — согласно опубликованному в феврале рейтингу*UNCTAD*Орган Генеральной Ассамблеи ООН, основными задачами которого является содействие развитию международной торговли, равноправное, взаимовыгодное сотрудничество между государствами и выработка рекомендаций, принципов, организационно-правовых условий и механизмов функционирования современных международных экономических отношений.*—*третьим по величине в мире получателем зарубежных прямых инвестиций. (Хотя большой кусок этих инвестиций был частью сделки TNK-BP и «Роснефти»).*

Но если российские инвесторы обескуражены, можете представить себе, как себя чувствуют иностранные бизнесмены? Несколько крупных сделок пошатнулись уже к середине марта.*

Опять же, невозможно подсчитать, сколько сделок из разряда «должны-были-состояться» сейчас отложены, но проблемы уже появились и у*многих заметных совместных предприятий. *Шведский автопроизводитель*Volvo в марте заявил, что из-за ситуации в Украине,*должен повторно обдумать сотрудничество*с российской государственной компанией «Уралвагонзавод» (выпускает железнодорожные вагоны и танки) по производству современных бронемашин на сумму 100 миллионов долларов.
Отдельной строкой*— уже подписанная в декабре сделка между государственным нефтяным гигантом «Роснефть» о продаже подразделения по торговле нефтью компании*Morgan Stanley за сотни миллионов долларов. Эта операция сейчас под сомнением, и может быть отклонена *Комитетом по иностранным инвестициям США.**

При условии даже незначительного 20%-ого снижения прямых иностранных инвестиций *относительно прошлого года, экономика потеряет*ещё 19 миллиардов долларов.*
«Значительное снижение прямых зарубежных инвестиций, —*которые, помимо денег, приносят ещё и современные технологии и управленческие навыки, —*сильно ударит по долгосрочному экономическому росту России.**А потеря российскими банками*и другими компаниями доступа к американской банковской системе (а, возможно, и банковской системе Евросоюза)*—*самая жёсткая санкция применённая к Ирану —*может и вовсе иметь разрушительное воздействие»,*—*считает высланный из России экономист Сергей Гуриев.*Промежуточный итог: 314 миллиардов долларов.
Фондовый рынок уже получил удар, но он может быть*«сбит» ещё раз. Из-за опасений, связанных с кризисом* индекс*RTS*Фондовый индекс, основной индикатор фондового рынка России. Расчёт этого индекса производится на основе 50 ликвидных акций крупнейших и динамично развивающихся российских эмитентов, виды экономической деятельности которых относятся к основным секторам экономики. в 2008 году*опустился на 72,4%, в 2011 году*на 21,9% и в 2013 году*на 6,8%. Прогнозы доходов на этот год и так более, чем скромные, но есть довольно реальный шанс, что вместо доходов российские акции снова начнут падать.*Предполагаемое*минимальное падение в 5% по сравнению с аналогичным периодом прошлого года, за полный год уничтожит*ещё 50 миллиардов долларов*суммарной рыночной капитализации.*Промежуточный итог: 364 миллиарда долларов.
Даже если на рынке останется вялотекущий спрос, косвенным ущербом может стать отмена серии*первоначальных публичных предложений акций (IPO), которые ранее были заявлены, но теперь уже почти точно не состоятся. Региональный ритейлер*«Обувь России» отложил своё IPO объёмом*55 миллионов долларов на вторую половину года (если оно вообще состоится)*в связи с шумихой. Под сомнением планы по IPO и у более крупных компаний: ритейлер «Лента»,*группа компаний*«Детский мир», немецкий оптовик*«Metro» и**«Московский кредитный банк»*также надеялись на*IPO в этом году (и мобилизовали*1 миллиард долларов, 440 миллионов долларов, 1,7 миллиардов евро*и *500 миллионов долларов *соответственно), — общей стоимостью*4 миллиарда долларов.*Промежуточный итог: 368 миллиардов долларов.
И это только частные компании, желающие быть включёнными у котировочные списки. Государство, в свою очередь, во второй половине этого года*собиралось вновь запустить замедлившуюся программу приватизации, после того, как окно для IPO ненадолго открылось во второй половине года прошлого. Вряд ли сейчас иностранные инвесторы раскошелятся и выложат миллиарды долларов*за долю в госкомпаниях. Принимая во внимание, что государственный «Сбербанк» привлёк чуть более*пяти миллиардов долларов от вторичного**публичного предложения (SPO) в прошлом году, предположим такую же сумму и в этом, вне программы приватизации.*

Промежуточный итог: 373 миллиарда долларов.
Призрак финансовых санкций замаячил, как возможное наказание со стороны Запада в отношении России за агрессию в Украине. *Но на самом деле эти санкции маловероятны, поскольку западные банки в значительной мере завязаны на*Россию:**согласно данным*Bank of International Settlements (BIS)*Банк международных расчётов — международная финансовая организация, в функции которой входит содействие сотрудничеству между центральными банками и облегчение международных финансовых расчётов., банки Европы*имеют в России 193,8 миллиардов долларов, банки США —*35,2 миллиарда долларов, Японии —*17,2 миллиарда долларов, Швейцарии —*8 миллиардов долларов, Южной Кореи —*5,2 миллиарда долларов. Если Запад заморозит российские активы за рубежом, россия (страна-террорист) может легко отомстить, отказавшись возвращать*эти долги.*
Кроме того, нефтяные и газовые гиганты «Роснефть» и*«Газпром» имеют, в общей сложности, долгов на*90 миллиардов долларов в займах и бондах в четырёх государственных банках —*«Сбербанке», «ВТБ», «Внешэкономбанке» и*«Россельхозбанке»,*позаимствовавших*ещё 60 миллиардов долларов иностранных кредитов. Один из кремлёвских помощников уже предупредил, что в случае введения финансовых санкций в отношении России, эти «организации» могут отказаться платить по*закладным.*
Где россия (страна-террорист) уязвима и без всяких санкций, это в том, что *касается*выпуска облигаций. Внешний государственный долг России сейчас более чем скромный, но её внешний коммерческий долг в последние годы резко возрос (хотя сроки погашения сейчас гораздо более длинные, чем в 2008 году): согласно данным Центробанка,*общий внешний долг России*к 1 января 2014 года*вырос до 732 миллиардов*долларов, годом ранее он составлял *636 миллиардов долларов, а в начале 2008 года — *464 миллиарда долларов. При этом основную часть новых долгов*«сделали» государственные компании.*
И хотя, принадлежащее государству ОАО*«Газпром нефть» в середине марта получило синдицированный кредит*Кредит, предоставляемый заёмщику по меньшей мере двумя кредиторами (синдикатом кредиторов), участвующими в данной сделке в определённых долях в рамках, как правило, единого кредитного соглашения. в размере*2,5 миллиарда долларов, предоставленный синдикатом европейских и американских банков, планы других десяти российских компаний**получить заём в размере восьми миллиардов долларов в этом месяце, по имеющимся сведениям, *сегодня являются затруднительными. *Промежуточный итог: 396 миллиардов долларов.
В то же время, стоимость этих облигаций*уже существенно увеличилась. В прошлом году наблюдался бум выпуска российских облигаций, когда доходность упала до 4% для государственных и квази-государственных ценных бумаг. В последние месяцы*ставки по Облигациям*федерального займа*удвоились, перешагнув в марте отметку в 9%.*


Опять-таки, трудно угадать стоимость облигаций «какой-она-могла-бы-быть». Но, учитывая, что российские корпорации добавляли к долгу примерно по 60 миллиардов долларов в год в течение последних пяти лет,**и вновь, исходя из самого скромного 20%-ого снижения выпуска облигаций, стоимость ценных бумаг, которые не будут выпущены, может составить порядка *12 миллиардов долларов.*
Кроме того, предположительная*оценка*дополнительных расходов по этому*заимствованию, может добавить ещё, как минимум, три миллиарда долларов.

Промежуточный итог: 411 миллиардов долларов.

Побочный эффект кризиса также затронет банковский сектор и будет стоить денег в виде*необходимости иметь более высокий капитал и роста проблемных кредитов. По словам московских банкиров, корпоративные кредиты, обязательства по которым выполнены не полностью или не в срок, уже увеличились, и дальнейшее*кредитование *будет только замедляться: *Fitch*Международная корпорация, рейтинговое агентство. Главная задача — предоставление мировым кредитным рынкам независимых и ориентированных на перспективу оценок кредитоспособности, аналитических исследований и данных. приводит данные, согласно которым, Tier 1 capital*Уровень надежности банка, коэффициент используется для описания достаточности капитала банка. Tier 1 — самый строгий показатель способности банка справиться с финансовым ударом. может быть сокращён на 2%, что будет стоить 12 миллиардов долларов.*

Промежуточный итог: 423 миллиарда долларов.
Уровень проблемных кредитов, вследствие снижения темпов экономического развития, уже вырос, но сейчас эта проблема станет ещё более серьёзной.***

«В свете предполагаемого экономического спада, мы прогнозируем, что невозврат*кредитов станет системным и вырастет. *Наш базовый прогноз*оценивает общесистемный коэффициент проблемных кредитов как 8,0%-8,5% в этом году, и он может стать выше, если теперешняя нестабильность *будет продолжаться»,*— говорят эксперты*Moody's.*
По оценкам «Национальной службы взыскания»*«Национальная служба взыскания» (ранее Долговое агентство «Пристав») создано в 2005 году при участии иностранного капитала. Сегодня компания занимает лидирующие позиции на российском рынке коллекторских услуг., проблемные кредиты составляют**435 миллиардов рублей*(12,8 миллиардов долларов). И если они вырастут на те же 40%, что и в прошлом году, это будет потерей ещё 5 миллиардов долларов для экономики.*Промежуточный итог: 428 миллиардов долларов.
Корпоративные кредиты также могут быть затронуты.*

«Существует риск, что обесценивание валюты*приведет к обострению негативных тенденций качества активов в иностранной валюте, которые, по нашим оценкам, составляют*около 17% *всего кредитного портфеля,*и в основном сконцентрированы у корпоративных клиентов. Около 50% этих кредитов — это займы, которые не сбалансированы с наличными потоками иностранной валюты, и им придётся переплачивать, по причине обесценивания рубля»,*— говорится в отчёте*Moody's. Конкретные цифры агентство не приводит, но давайте прикинем, что это будет ещё около пяти миллиардов долларов.*Промежуточный итог: 433 миллиарда долларов.
Как ни странно, торговля одна из областей, которые, скорее всего, не будут затронуты.**Не секрет, что*между Россией и Европой*существуют довольно активные торговые потоки. *Это заставляет власти европейских государств, например, Германии, так сопротивляться введению санкций в отношении России. *Около половины российского экспорта идёт в Европу, и только*3% в США. И наоборот, только 7% европейского экспорта идёт в Россию (при отсутствии американского экспорта). Но в денежном выражении европейский экспорт в Россию больше*(264 миллиарда долларов) чем российский экспорт в Европейский Союз (152 миллиарда долларов). В итоге, *торговые санкции могут быть отклонены, из-за того что у России есть очень большая дубинка в любой торговой войне.**
Чтобы ни произошло дальше, кризис уже разрушил шансы России на восстановление экономики в этом году. В 2013 году*россия (страна-террорист) показала весьма огорчительный рост в 1,4%, но аналитики надеялись, что*этот год будет лучше, и предсказывали *рост*между 2% и 3,5% в течение всего года. Экономический подъём, ожидаемый в прошлом году, в этом уж точно должен был наступить. Но нет, больше нет.*Goldman Sachs, в числе многих других, понизил рейтинг роста для России до 1%,*в лучшем случае (на 14 марта). Другие аналитики предполагают, что экономика в этом году может даже упасть. *Снижение на 0,5% может обойтись России ещё в*10 миллиардов долларов.*

Промежуточный итог: 443 миллиарда долларов.


Источник:* Business New Europe.

Перевод: MediaPort™

Иллюстрация:*Хендрик Гольциус (1588)
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23.03.2014 15:15


RU**ENG**UA


The West is threatening further sanctions should Russia proceed with the formal annexation of Crimea. There is no need. The crisis has already cost Russia $187bn so far and almost certainly wrecked any chance of economic growth this year. And the impact of the crisis could do roughly $440bn worth of damage over the whole year — and that is before the West inflicts a single cent's worth of sanctions, according to*bne's*(very rough) estimates.*



Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to send in the army to Crimea is a massive own goal as far as Russia's economy is concerned. This was the year Russia was supposed to emerge from the aftermath of the 2008 crisis and grow by up to 3.5%. However, it was obvious even before the first squaddie climbed into a truck that intervening in Ukraine militarily was going to not only cost a lot of money, but also do enormous economic damage to the already fragile investment climate.*

«Regardless of the West's response to the Crimean crisis, the economic damage to Russia will be vast. First, there are the direct costs of military operations and of supporting the Crimean regime and its woefully inefficient economy (which has been heavily subsidized by Ukraine's government for years),» exiled Russian economist Sergei Guriev said in a recent article.*
In this piece,*bne*attempts to tot up some of the costs already incurred by the Crimean crisis and guestimate costs that will be incurred over the rest of the year. While a lot of the estimates are wide open to debate, it is still clear that Russia has inflicted more economic damage on itself than the West could ever hope to achieve with Iran-style punitive sanctions.*

The cost so far*

As Russian troops appeared on the streets of eastern Europe's favourite holiday resort in February, Russia's stock market tanked, losing 15% in a day and wiping an estimated $55bn off the market capitalization at the shaky stroke of a pen. While most pundits were expecting Russia to cancel its $15bn bailout deal for Ukraine and possibly some economic retaliation after the Maidan government took over in Kyiv, no one was expecting the display of force.*Running total: $55bn*
Equity investors were already unsettled by emerging market uncertainties, with $130m leaving in the week before the Crimean crisis alone, according to Emerging Market Value Portfolio. But redemptions have probably since accelerated: Let's call it a round $1bn for the whole year to date of redemptions from funds.*Running total: $56bn*
The same collywobbles will also have accelerated capital flight, which the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) was hoping would slow this year. An estimated $17bn left the country in January according to the authorities — the same amount as that month a year ago — but Renaissance Capital's chief economist, Charles Robinson, estimates $50bn has already left in the first quarter of this year.*Running total: $106bn*
The side effect of capital flight is to continue to push the ruble's value down, which fell 10% on the start of hostilities. Russians were already beginning to panic in December as the ruble has been under pressure for months. The population were converting rubles to dollars at a record pace in December — about $2bn a month, or a total of $6bn since the New Year, but that too accelerated in March: the CBR was forced to spend $11bn on trying to prop the ruble up in the last month.*Running total: $117bn*
And the loss of this money to the economy was before Russia spent a penny on actually running its military campaign, currently estimated to have cost $50bn-70bn — more than it cost to put the Sochi Olympics on. With an estimated 60,000 Russian soldiers massed on the Ukrainian border, that number is climbing daily.*Running total: $187bn*

Rest of this year*

That bill is only the tip of the iceberg. Even if a deal with the EU and Maidan government were signed today, the costs from the shock Putin has given the West is going to reverberate all year, if not longer.*
The most obvious direct cost to the Kremlin of taking over Crimea is Russia is going to have to pay to keep the region going. The Kremlin has already sent a reported $440m in cash to tide Crimea over, but an article in Vedomosti*put the annual cost of subsidies, pension payments etc. at $3bn a year.*
Putin is well aware of the cost of taking on crappy regions: after taking over Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, Russian grants now make up 70% of the region's budget for several years — and half of that was stolen by the local elites, according to reports. Crimea is unlikely to be different.*Running total: $190bn*
However, the cost of running Crimea is the least of the Kremlin's worries. Once the dust literally settles, attention will inevitably turn to the dire state of Ukraine's economy: the country is bankrupt and on the verge of collapse. It needs billions of dollars of aid keep it running.*
Some of Russia's largest banks are exposed to Ukrainian risk directly and via their subsidiaries to the tune of $30bn, according to estimates by Moody's Investors Service. More than half of these exposures ($17.4bn) are via subsidiaries of Russian banks and some or all of this could be lost if the banking sector collapses. Indeed, if the EU "takes" Ukraine, it is not unlikely that Russia will precipitate a collapse on purpose.*Running total: $223bn*




Almost as much money that left Russia in all of last year ($63bn) had already fled by the end of March and the CBR spent a total $30bn in 2013 defending the currency. This year capital flight is expected to soar to $130bn, says Goldman Sachs, which means the CBR will probably have to double its interventions to some $60bn to keep some sort of currency stability.*
«The Achilles heel of the Russian economy remains the flow abroad of Russian capital following any shock. We would also think that any sanctions or even the threat of sanctions will be ultimately targeted at these flows,» Goldman said in a note.*Running total: $283bn*
Capital flight will only pull the weakening ruble down further, which in turn increases the costs to the budget. The ruble has already fallen by 10% this year, but Renaissance Capital estimates that a further fall in the ruble's value this year will add another $10bn to the government's costs.*Running total: $293bn*
The incursion into Crimea was as much a shock to Russia's business leaders as it was to the politicians in Brussels and Washington, and is bound to hurt domestic investment. Russia desperately needs fixed investment to rise if it is to have any chance of economic growth this year, but investment had already stalled by last year. Now there is talk of war, Russia's business captains are even less likely to invest than before. Fixed investment into the Russian economy totaled RUB2.33 trillion ($77.76bn) in 2013, but Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecasts that investments in fixed capital will decrease 3.3% as of the end of 2014, or by about $2.33bn.*Running total: $295bn*
Russia attracted a whopping $94bn of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2013, making Russia the third largest recipient of FDI in the world, according to a February ranking by the UNCTAD, although a big chunk of that was part of the TNK-BP/Rosneft deal. But if Russian investors are unnerved, can you image how the foreign investors feel? By the middle of March several big deals were already looking shaky.*
Again, it is impossible to measure just how many deals-that-might-have-been are now on ice, but some high-profile joint ventures are already in trouble. Swedish car producer Volvo said in March it was taking a second look at a proposed partnership with Russian state-owned railway equipment and tank maker Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) to make modern armored cars due to the situation in Ukraine, worth about $100m*
Separately, state-owned oil major Rosneft signed a binding deal to sell its oil-trading arm to Morgan Stanley in December for hundreds of millions of dollars. That deal is now in doubt and may be nixed by the US Foreign Investments Committee.*
Assuming a modest 20% contraction in FDI against last year, that would wipe out another $19bn of money lost to the economy.*
«A significant decline in FDI — which brings not only money but also modern technology and managerial skills — would hit Russia's long-term economic growth hard. And denying Russian banks and firms access to the US (and possibly European) banking system — the harshest sanction applied to Iran — would have a devastating impact,» says Guriev.*Running total: $314bn*
The stock market has already been hit, but it could be hit again if its performance in recent years is anything to go by: the RTS index was down by 72.4% in 2008, 21.9% in 2011 and 6.8% in 2013 on crisis-related fears. Predictions for this year's gains were already modest, but there is a very real chance that Russian stocks will return a loss instead. Assuming a modest 5% year-on-year fall for the full year, that would destroy another $50bn of market capitalization.*Running total: $364bn*
Even if the market remains flat, collateral damage could be a string of IPOs that were on the docket, but are now almost certainly going to be cancelled. Regional shoe retailer Obuv Rossii has already postponed its $55m IPO until the second half of the year (if then) due to the brouhaha. And the IPO plans of much larger companies are in doubt: retailer Lenta, childrens' store Detski Mir, German wholesaler Metro and retail bank Credit Bank of Moscow were all also hoping to get IPOs away this year (and raise $1bn, $440m, €1.7bn and $500m respectively), collectively worth $4bn.*Running total: $368bn*
And those are just the privately owned companies with listing aspirations; the state was hoping to restart its long-delayed privatization programme in the second half of this year, after an IPO window opened briefly in the second half of last year. Fat chance that foreign investors will fork out billions of dollars for shares in state-owned enterprises now. Given state-owned Sberbank raised just over $5bn last year with a secondary public offering, pencil in the same this year for the non-privatization programme.*Running total: $373bn*
The bogeyman of financial sanctions has been raised as a possible punitive reaction by the West against Russia's aggression in Ukraine, but actually it is highly unlikely because western banks are so heavily exposed to Russia: according to Bank of International Settlements (BIS) data, European banks have $193.8bn in exposure to Russia, US banks $35.2bn, Japan $17.2bn, Switzerland $8bn, and South Korea $5.2bn. If the West tries to freeze Russian assets abroad, Russia could easily retaliate by refusing to pay these debts back.*
Likewise, oil and gas majors Rosneft and Gazprom owe a combined $90bn in debt and bonds with four state banks Sberbank, VTB, VEB, Rosselkhozbank owing another $60bn in foreign credits. A Kremlin aide has already warned that if financial sanctions are imposed on Russia, these institutions might refuse to pay their loans off.*
But where Russia will be hurt, even without sanctions, is with bond issues. Russia's sovereign external debt is very modest indeed, but its external commercial debt has soared in recent years (although the maturities now are a lot longer than they were in 2008): Russia's total external debt rose to $732bn as of January 1, 2014, from $636bn a year earlier and $464bn at the start of 2008, according to the CBR, with the bulk of new debt raised by Russian state companies.*
Although state-owned Gazprom Neft got a $2.5bn syndicated loan deal away in the middle of March, largely financed by a club of European and US banks, plans by another 10 big Russian companies to raise $8bn in loans this month are reportedly in difficulty now.*Running total: $396bn*
At the same time, the cost of these bonds has already increased significantly. Last year saw a boom in Russian bond issues when yields fell to about the 4% for state and quasi-state issues, but the rates have more-or-less doubled on the government's OFZ in recent months, which broke through 9% earlier this month.*




Again it is very hard to guess the value of bonds-that-might-have-been. But given Russian corporates were adding approximately $60bn of debt a year over the last five years, and again assuming a modest 20% reduction in bond issues, the value of bonds that won't be issued will be on the order of $12bn.*
Likewise, making a guestimate of the extra cost this borrowing will come in at due to the rise in yields caused by the crisis could add at least another $3bn.*Running total: $411bn*
The spillover from the crisis is also going to hurt the banking sector and cost it money in the form of the need for higher capital and an increase in bad debt. According to bankers in Moscow, corporate non-performing loans are already rising and lending will slow even further: Fitch says that Tier 1 capital could be reduced by up to 2%, which would be worth $12bn.*Running total: $423bn*
Bad loan levels were already accelerating on the back of the economic slowdown, but that problem will get even worse now.*
«In light of the potential economic slowdown, we expect nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the system to increase. Our base-case forecast estimates a system-wide NPL ratio of 8.0%-8.5% this year, and could go higher if the current volatility persists,» says Moody's.*
The National Collection Service estimates total bad loans have reached about RUB435bn ($12.8bn). And if this only increases by the same 40% that it grew last year, it will be another $5bn lost to the economy.*Running total: $428bn*
Corporate loans will also be affected. «There is a risk that the currency devaluation will exacerbate negative asset quality trends in foreign currency loans, which we estimate constitute around 17% of the total loan book and are mainly concentrated in corporates. Approximately 50% of these loans are to borrowers that do not have matching foreign currency cash flows and they would need to absorb the increased repayment burden caused by the ruble depreciation,» Moody's said in a report, without putting any actual numbers on the cost. Let's call it another $5bn.Running total: $433bn*
Ironically, trade is probably one area that will be least affected. Indeed, it is the heavy trade flow between Russia and Europe that makes the European powers like Germany so reluctant to slap sanctions on Russia. About half of Russia's exports go to Europe, but only 3% to the US. Conversely, only 7% of Europe's exports go to Russia (and next to no US exports). But in money terms, the EU exports more to Russia ($264bn) than Russia to the EU ($152bn). The upshot is trade sanctions can be ruled out because Russia carries a very big stick in any trade war.
Whatever happens next, the crisis has already ruined Russia’s chances for economic recovery this year. Last year Russia put in a very disappointing 1.4% growth but analysts were hoping this year would be better, predicting between 2% and 3.5% growth for the full year. The recovery that should have come last year would arrive this year. Not any more. Goldman Sachs, among many, downgraded Russia’s growth outlook to 1% at best on March 14. Other analysts are speculating the economy may even contract this year. A 0.5% contraction would destroy another $10bn of value.*Running total: $443bn*


Source:* Business New Europe.

Translation: MediaPort™

Illustration:*Hendrick Goltzius (1588)
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Обращение к админам. а можно создавать темы в новостях на арабском, китайском, английском???
 
а шо ето было?
 
Медиапорт! я тебя не понимать :)
 
на родном написал, забыл на наш перевести :-)
 
Опять ущемляют права русскоязычных :ги:
 
Да ,переводик интересный и занимательный... Браво,пу-тин!
 
Спасибо всем - поржал!
 
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