RUSSIAN SHARE PRICES TAKE A TUMBLE

Russia's stock market closed on 30 November almost 11 percent lower than the previous day. Trading had to be stopped at one point when the Russian Trading System price index fell more than 7.5 percent below the market's opening level. According to some analysts, the fall is connected with both domestic factors such as the restructuring of Unified Energy Systems and LUKoil and external causes such as the continuing election stalemate in the U.S. and the financial crisis in Turkey. Anton Siluanov, director of the Finance Ministry's department for macroeconomic policy, told Interfax that there are no real economic grounds for a drop in share prices since the Russian economy is stable enough and economic growth rates are fairly good.