Bear market: Russia’s economy is in free fall

How quickly can a G20 economy collapse? That question has come to the fore this week, as the world has united in targeting Russia’s economy while Vladimir Putin continues his illegal invasion into Ukraine.

So far, the rouble is down more than 30 per cent on where it was pre-crisis, at an all-time low against the dollar. Russia’s central bank has upped interest rates to 20 per cent to stop a currency collapse. Its stock market is still closed, and is expected to remain so until mid-next week at the earliest – a record shutdown in the country’s history.

BP has walked away from its 20 per cent stake in Russia’s state-owned Rosneft, while Shell is forgoing its stake in Gazprom, thought to be worth roughly $3 billion. Meanwhile, photos have emerged of massive queues at local transport hubs, as Russians can no longer use Apple Pay to tap their way through the gates: Apple has suspended the service.