The Russian economy is faltering, and one of the victims is the Kontinental Hockey League, which once aspired to compete with the NHL in terms of talent and in recent years has lured away a handful of high-profile stars, like Ilya Kovalchuk.
The league’s problems are symptomatic of larger financial issues. Thanks to a combination of factors, including a sharp decline in the price of oil and foreign sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the Russian economy is struggling badly, and the nation’s official currency (the ruble) has seen a sharp decline in value.
At one point in December, the Globe and Mail's James Mirtle and Mark MacKinnon reported that the ruble’s value against the U.S. dollar had fallen to half of what it was earlier in 2014.
The ruble has rebounded since that low point, and Russia’s government has put up a brave front, but even the government had to admit that tough times were ahead; finance minister Anton Siluanov told Reuters' Darya Korsunskaya and Vladimir Abramov (h/t Yahoo) that the country’s economy was looking at a four percent contraction ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
What the KHL’s Economic Collapse Means for the NHL
December 26th, 2014 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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