Gabriel Stein, chief of research at Lombard Street Research, talks with the Financial Times about why Russia’s economic stimulus policy package has failed to produce results.

Mr Stein says Russia is paying the price for its double exposure to the “most serious hazards of the modern world – energy and exports to continental Europe.” The former, he says, is the result of Moscow’s single-minded pursuit of energy control, regardless of the damage to Russia’s business climate.

“The rouble has strengthened this year, partly on . . . optimism about emerging markets, partly due to – but also a cause of – Russian stock market gains and partly [on] high interest rates.