Leading media comment on the WikiLeaks material on Russia

Leading Western newspapers such as The New York Times, Guardian and others published several reports today on the WikiLeaks material on Russia, which describe the country as a “mafia state.” In a separate development, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave an extensive interview on the US television program Larry King Live.

The WikiLeaks publications mainly portray Russia from the point of view of US embassies in Russia and other countries, and disclose no documents that could potentially compromise government officials. Therefore, we do not believe that such publications are likely to alter public or investor opinion about Russia either for better or worse. For that reason, we do not think that any of these publications could have any meaningful effect on the market, nor worsen investor sentiment towards Russia, in our view. 

We also believe that most, if not all, of any adverse impact from the publications on Russia is likely to have been assuaged by Putin’s interview on Larry King Live, which showed his largely pragmatic approach to key issues on the international agenda, including the Korean crisis and the NATO mission in Afghanistan.