In response, ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded its outlook for Ukraine, while the IMF's managing director said he is "concerned" by Ukraine's decision. IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn told ...Reuters that Ukraine was "off track and in this situation I'm afraid it would be very difficult to complete the next review of the program." He later softened his position in a statement, saying, "We understand that there is disagreement among the authorities on how to proceed, but we continue working with them in the hope that they come together to reach a position that will allow early completion of the review." On Friday, one of Ms. Yulia Tymoshenko's top advisers, Deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyria, called Mr. Viktor Yushchenko's move, which increases the minimum wage and pensions in the crisis-stricken country by 20%, "irresponsible" and "politically motivated."
Earlier in the week, the IMF warned Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko that he needed to veto the law boosting Ukraine's minimum wage and pensions if the country was to remain on track with the IMF ...lending program.
Russians Protest Activist's Killing Ostroukh, Andrey; Marson, James; Kolyandr, Alexander
The Wall Street journal Asia,
03/2015
Newspaper Article
"Boris Nemtsov's tragic death will be a watershed for our civil society," Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister and longtime ally of Mr. Nemtsov who led the march, told reporters. "I'm sure that ...in the course of the next few months the situation in the country will start changing." "For a huge number of people in this country, this is just a huge shock," opposition leader Ilya Yashin told reporters as he marched. "Nemtsov will always remain a symbol of a free, European future for our country." "After the death of such a prominent man next to the Kremlin walls in a secured area, we can't keep the outrage to ourselves anymore," she said. "Polls show Mr. Vladimir Putin's approval rating 86%, but we want to show them that there is a different sort of people."
The ruble's continued fall despite the Russian central bank's move to raise interest rates to 17% rippled across global markets Tuesday, fueling a selloff in emerging market currencies and stocks. ...Banks including Goldman Sachs Group have started rejecting requests from institutional clients to engage in certain ruble-denominated repurchase agreements and other transactions designed to raise cash, according to people familiar with the matter.
Fall in Ruble Poses Test For Putin Marson, James; Razumovskaya, Olga; Kolyandr, Alexander
Wall Street journal. Europe,
12/2014
Newspaper Article
Russia's growing economic problems could fortify the already strong backing for the Kremlin in its confrontation with the West, since Moscow blames the problems on enemies. Russian Foreign Minister ...Sergei Lavrov told television station France 24 that "Russia will not only survive but come out much stronger" from sanctions. "It will lead to a loss of faith in the authorities . . . and it could hit the president," said Alexei Makarkin, deputy director of the Center for Political Technologies, a Moscow-based think tank. "It will weaken the authorities, but not fatally. People will look for a way out individually." "A lot of (market) participants are in serious condition because of these events," Bank of Russia Deputy Chairman Sergei Shvetsov told reporters Tuesday. "The choice the central bank made (to raise rates) was between very bad and very, very bad."
Russia's Economic Struggles Test Putin Marson, James; Razumovskaya, Olga; Kolyandr, Alexander
The Wall Street journal. Eastern edition,
12/2014
Newspaper Article
The ruble's continued fall despite the Russian central bank's move to raise interest rates to 17% rippled across global markets Tuesday, fueling a selloff in emerging market currencies and stocks.
Long lines for big ticket items such as electronics and cars, emptied-out ATMs and reports of people trading in big stacks of cash for dollars attest to a new feeling of vulnerability in Russia and ...rumblings of panic about rising prices. Russia's decision to husband its more-than $400 billion in reserves rather than spend them defending the ruble indicate it is coming to terms with a lengthy period of low oil prices and international isolation, which is locking its companies out of Western markets.
In Kharkiv, a city near the Russian border where Mr. Yanukovych never showed up to speak to a group of supporters, even longtime allies are keeping their distance. "He has passed into history now," ...said Gennady Kernes, Kharkiv's mayor. "I don't know where he is. I don't go to the sauna with him." The sudden collapse of Mr. Yanukovych's government shocked its opponents -- and Western and Russian officials who had been trying to manage the high-stakes geopolitical crisis. Just days earlier, the Ukrainian president had shown his willingness to shoot protesters in the bloodiest violence in Ukraine's post-Soviet history. Mr. Yanukovych signaled he could shoot more if his opponents continued to defy the government's authority Mr. Yanukovych was told he would be a world-wide outcast if there was more violence. Opposition leaders were told they risked more bloodletting. In one exchange captured on video, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told a protester: "If you don't support this, you'll have martial law, you'll have the army. You will all be dead." Mr. Yanukovych and opposition leaders signed the pact Friday afternoon, agreeing to reduce his powers and hold elections by year-end.
Mr. Yanukovych's political party on Sunday condemned his "cowardly flight," declaring the pro-Russian president personally responsible for Ukraine's ills, including "the loss of human life, an empty ...treasury, huge debts, shame in the eyes of the Ukrainian people and the world." ...critics and some members of his political party said he set out to enrich his family and staunchest allies.
Russians Hold Bank Chief Marson, James; Kolyandr, Alexander; Bisserbe, Noemie
The Wall Street journal. Eastern edition,
05/2013
Newspaper Article
A number of Western banks, including HSBC Holdings PLC and Barclays PLC, quit the Russian retail business in recent years after struggling to compete in a relatively mature market dominated by large ...domestic banks.
