[LINK] "Russians flock to troubled Cyprus in attempt to protect finances"

[rfmcdonald]

Miriam Elder's Guardian article talks about the effects of the Cypriot crisis on Russians invested in the country, a fairly broad cross-section of people.

They clustered in small groups on the plush couches dotted around the lounge of the Four Seasons hotel in the port city of Limassol. Nervous whispers and furtive glances revealed these were no ordinary tourists revelling in the sun on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

They were Russians, who have been flocking to the city for urgent meetings with lawyers and financial advisers, fearing for their personal finances, with sums at stake ranging from the low thousands to hundreds of millions of euros and totalling more than $32bn (£27bn).

"Everyone has flown in hoping to use contacts with locals to pressure the leadership, the deputies," says a man who identifies himself only as Vladimir. "We are all very worried, very scared."

The 45-year-old businessman refreshes his iPad incessantly, seeking news from the parliament in the capital, Nicosia. If the country's banks go bust, he stands to lose €58m. Where the money came from, he declines to say.

[. . .]

Many Russians have also invested heavily in real estate on Cyprus, buying luxury properties around the island. But many of the year-round Russian residents are not wealthy and have spent several days queuing up alongside Cypriots at bank machines in a desperate attempt to withdraw cash in the event of a bank collapse.

Alexandra Zimakova, 38, a small business owner originally from St Petersburg, has just under €100,000 in Laiki Bank, the country's second largest and most troubled. "I already lived through one default, in Russia," she says, referring to the 1998 crisis when Russia defaulted on its debt, devastating its economy. "Now we have to see what will happen next. So far it's terrible panic, people talking about horrible things, rumours everywhere, very little real information."

Cyprus was meant to be different. In Russia, successful businesses are regularly raided by corrupt government inspectors and then stolen by well-funded rivals. Banks are still seen as insecure; many keep their savings at home.

Eight years ago, Zimakova bought a house outside Nicosia for €150,000. She does not know how much it is worth today, with real estate prices steadily dropping. In the past few days, neighbours have reported three robberies as people begin to store more cash at home.

"We don't know what will happen," she says, echoing the sentiments of everyone across the island, be they Russian or Cypriot.