Russian stock exchange analyst Alexander Butmanov is toasting to what he is viewing as the death of the Russian stock market.
Butmanov, founder of financial technology company DTI Algorithmic, appeared on a markets-centered television show only to pull out a soda and toast to the end of the market as he knows it, according to local media.
“Rest in peace, dear comrade,” he said, according to a translation.
The New Yorker’s Joshua Yaffa posted the video of the TV moment in a tweet.
The viral moment comes as Russian markets have now been closed for four straight days after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. This represents its longest stock market pause since 1998, according to Bloomberg.
On Wednesday, Equity index provider MSCI Inc. called Russia’s equity markets “uninvestable” as the U.S. and other western countries impose harsh sanctions against the country.
“The reclassification decision will be implemented in one step across all MSCI Indexes, including standard, custom and derived indexes, at a price that is effectively zero and as of the close of March 9,” MSCI said in the statement.
Large Russian companies like Gazprom
RU:SIBN,
Lukoil
RU:LKOH
and Sberbank
RU:SBER,
are now penny stocks as Russian companies collapse in London. Sberbank, which had assets of over $500 billion during parts of 2021, has a current stock price of $0.05 on the London Stock Exchange
LSEG,
The ruble’s
USDRUB,
value has also plummeted in recent weeks.
