The Commercial Side of a Political Crisis

A Russian supermarket chain is selling its stores in the Ukraine.

It's a pretty small deal (they had only twelve stores in the country, and the price is estimated to be in the $5-10mil range).

X5, Russia's second-biggest retailer and part of billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group, is selling its Ukrainian stores to local privately owned supermarket chain Varus, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian company said on Wednesday. 

She gave no details, but Ukrainian newspaper Capital reported earlier that the deal could be worth around $5-10 million. It had been in the works since October, but the crisis over Crimea may have quickened the pace of talks.

Although the deal was in the works for several months, I can't help wondering how much the price dropped in the last few weeks.