Official Russia

Written by Veronica Khokhlova

Alexander Belenkiy (LJ user macos) posts photos (RUS) taken in the neglected - but not yet fully deserted - coal miners' towns in Perm region, where the first mine appeared in 1797 and the last one closed in 2000: “All this resembles today's Abkhazia or wartime Grozny.”

Source: Global Voices Online » Russia

Russia’s European Nations Cup campaign suffered a major blow this weekend when they were beaten 21:19 at home by Portugal. The result leaves Russia in third place in the table, a full five points behind Georgia, who crushed a normally pretty good Spanish team 60:0.

The match started pretty tamely, with both sides trading penalties early on, and Russia edging their way into a 9-6 lead on the 27th minute, courtesy of fly-half Yuri Kushnarev’s accurate boot.

The game was turned on its head, though, by two Portugese tries, one either side of the interval. A quick penalty and Portugal were soon 21-9 ahead, and looking comfortable.

A quick Vasily Artemyev try in reply brought Russia within seven points, though, and set up a grandstand finish. Needing just a converted try to tie the game, Russia attacked relentlessly as the game wore on. Five minutes into injury time, just as it seemed too late, a second Russian try brought them within two points, but Russian hearts were broken when Kushnarev couldn’t convert for the extra two points.

Here are some (silent) video highlights of the four tries.

The Russian team will be gutted by this result (especially because the first Portugese try was scored from a blatant forward pass), but truth be told it’s not that much of a surprise. They’ve looked a bit shaky since coach Steve Diamond returned to England. But the real culprit in this defeat surely has to be the Russian Rugby Union, who chose to play a home game in Sochi, thousands of miles away from their Siberian rugby heartland. The result, a grand total of 85 spectators turned up, and I’d be surprised if at least half of them weren’t Portuguese. OK, Russia may want to promote Sochi as its premier sporting venue, but for rugby, it’s proved a disaster. I’m not sure where Russia’s next home game will be played, but I pray that it’s nowhere near the new Russian Olympic city!

To put the low turnout in perspective, consider that 15,000 fans turned out to watch Georgia romp home in Tbilisi, and the lowest turnout so far in this year’s European Nations Cup (other than in Sochi) was 3,000 in Portugal last weekend.

Georgia, by the way, are looking stunning. As Russia slide backwards, Georgia just get better and better. Spain aren’t one of the strongest teams in the Division, but last year the result in the same fixture was a close-run 17:9 victory for Georgia. Georgia’s first two wins this season, combined with impressive wins over both Canada and the USA in the off-season should give England, Scotland and Argentina, their opponents in this autumn’s Rugby World Cup, something to think about.

If Georgia keep performing at this level, they’ll surely need a more competitive tournament than the European Nations Cup. Promotion to the Six Nations isn’t realistic, but surely some more regular matches against tier one nations should be considered.

Here are the highlights of the Georgia game – lots of tries for you to enjoy.

That’s it for this week (in case you were wondering, the match between Ukraine and Romania was called off because of a frozen pitch). The ENC takes a break this weekend, but we’ll be back in two weeks time to bring you the results of Georgia’s trip to Portugal (could be a tight one, but Georgia should come home with a win), Russia’s trip to Romania (I wouldn’t bet the farm on a Russian victory, but you never know) and Ukraine’s trip to Spain (easy win for the Spanish).

Rugby: Russia Crash to Home Defeat is a post from: Siberian Light

Source: Siberian Light

Photo "old well" / www.photoforum.ru

Source: PhotoForum.ru: landscape / architecture: new photos

Today Barclay’s Bank announced its decision to withdraw from the Russian retail banking sector; an announcement precipitated, it would seem, by write downs of nearly $400 million, which are prompting commentators to compare it to US financier George Soros’ 1997 purchase of a stake in the Russian
communications company Svyazinvest, in his words, ‘[T]he worst investment of my life’.  Beyond Brics however suggests foreign banks need not necessarily be deterred:

But Barclays’ failure in Russia’s retail banking market didn’t come
as a surprise and it shouldn’t scare investors, says a senior analyst at
Troika Dialogue: “For every foreign bank that exits, there is another
waiting to enter”.

Barclays said it would focus on its corporate, financial institution
and government clients through Barclays Capital, its investment arm. Bob
Foresman, head of Barclays Capital Russia, said:

The strongest opportunity for Barclays in Russia lies in
expanding our investment banking business focusing on corporate clients,
financial institutions and government entities from our operations in
Moscow. Last year we helped our Russian clients raise over $14bn of
capital, making us the leading bookrunner for domestic issuers of
international bonds, as well as advising clients on M&A and equity
capital markets.

[...]

Andrew Keeley, the analyst at Troika Dialog, told beyondbrics that
retail banks in Russia had a difficult time during the financial crisis
but in general retail lending in the country has significant growth
opportunities.

Retail lending is still a fledgling sector, Keeley said.

Generally you have an underleveraged consumer that is
becoming more finanically literate and wants better quality products and
services. The Russian mortgage market and products such as credit cards
are still very much in their infancy.

Source: Robert Amsterdam

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Topic Replies: 0

Source: Way to Russia Talk Lounge