It almost brings a tear to my eye...

... well, not quite. The Guardian reports that the tumbling Rouble saw the owners of two English football clubs take big hits.

Alisher Usmanov, Arsenal owner, lost £517million over 48 hours. I don't know who to feel sorrier for; him, down to his last £8.5bn, or the Arsenal fans who may have to continue complaining about the club's reluctance to spend freely in the transfer market.

Usmanov

Meanwhile...
Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, lost £288million in 2 days. Only £8.2bn in the bank. So, some hard-up footballers' pay packet won't break the £200k per week :(

Abramovich

Collectively, the oligarchs in Russia were hit for about £6.5bn. I'm sure they feel hard done by but at least they won't be feeling down the back of the sofa for a few extra kopeeks.

There are plenty of needy in Russia who are going to struggle further in the current economy. There lies my sympathy.

A woman begging in Red Square, Moscow.

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Elsewhere on this blog:
Usmanov has a large say in vkontakte