- To put it short, there's nothing much to laugh at in Russia right now, said Morten Hansen, Head of the Economics Department at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, as he discussed the ruble devaluation at the 12 March Business Seminar, jointly arranged by SCCE and SSE in Riga.

- Oil and gas constitute 15 – 20% of the Russian GDP, 50% of the government budget revenue, and 70% of the exports. With oil prices down to half during the past year, this has a significant impact on the Russian economy, continued Morten Hansen.

- Just a year ago, a euro was paid with 45 rubles, today it cost 65 rubles, a 45% increase. Almost 100 billion USD in foreign reserves have been used to defend the ruble in just a few months, however in vain.

- The ruble depreciation has of course also an inflationary impact. For example, price increases on foodstuff varies from 10,5% for beef up to 77,7% for buckwheat.

- Russia's credit rating was recently cut to junk by Standard & Poor's for the first time in a decade. There is indeed trouble ahead for the Russian economy, and as of today, it is too early to predict the outcome, concluded Morten Hansen.

Nellija Titova, Director of the Executive MBA Programme at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, commenced our Business Seminar and gave an overview on the study options. Right now, SSE Riga offers full-tuition scholarships for several programs in their Executive Education. The scholarships are intended for small companies and NGO's in the Baltics and more information on the programmes being eligible for scholarships is found on this link: www.swedishchamber.ee/news/show/1490

On behalf of the SCCE Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Morten Hansen and Nellija Titova for their presentations. My thanks also go to Radisson BLU Sky Hotel for a very nice set up of our Business Seminar.

Sincerely,

Kristiina Sikk

SCCE Ombudsman