"President Putin in Denial over the Effects of New Western Sanctions "

By Catherine Kent

Wall Street Journal  reports that both the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev are acknowledging the harmful effects on Russia’s economy of the new Western sanctions. While President Valdimir Putin seems to see the issue differently, according to Economy Minister Ulyukayev, the “global capital markets are practically closed to [Russian] companies.”  Lacking the requisite investment and capital, Russian companies are cut off from even the possibility of domestic growth.