Hanging on the brink of bankruptcy due to the current global crisis, and abandoned by its traditional Western partners, Iceland officially approached Moscow for a 4bln-euro credit last month. Indeed, the situation in Iceland is really pathetic: the local stock exchange has nosedived by 76%, exchange rate down by 46%, while a minimum of 100bln.euros are needed to inject liquidity into the banking system. Meanwhile, different explanations have been offered for Moscow’s readiness to grant the request, from a desire to have a NATO member as an ally, demonstrate financial might in crisis time to protecting the oligarchs’ assets in Icelandic banks. However, both sides have dismissed all speculations, noting that the deal is purely commercial.”
Web design,