Bear with a sore head

EWA ANDRZEJEWSKA

Editor

The Russian bear is growling once again. This time it was heard not only in Central & Eastern Europe, but also on the other side of the Atlantic. Should we here in the CEE region, its nearest neighbours who so recently regained our freedom, be afraid?

Money, they say, has no homeland, but Russia’s recent behaviour has aroused 
a great deal of anxiety among foreign investors, who now wonder whether the time has come to pull their capital out of this market. The entrepreneurs who have entered the still fairly young Ukrainian real estate market are also closely following  each declaration made by Russia’s powers that be, pondering over whether this is just harmless sabre rattling or if it constitutes a real danger. One of our journalists met a representative of the Association of Russian Constructors several days before the events in Georgia erupted. He encouraged investment to come to a country which is overflowing with roubles, as he put it, and which can finance many more projects than local companies can take on. It is up to you to decide whether investing in Russia would still be worth it, with recent events still fresh in the memory.

We cannot escape from history. Its presence hangs over all the countries in this part of Europe. Evidence for this, for instance, is given by the mad rush to raise living standards to Western European levels – as well as its consequences. The Baltic residential markets are now trying to get their breath back after making that huge leap since entering the European Union. What the future might hold for this sector in these countries is examined on pp. 46-50 and pp. 58-62.