More than a third of Russian companies from various industries can become bankrupt due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports citing a study by the Center for Strategic Research (CSR). Of these, trade and service companies are at the highest risk of bankruptcy (40%). 80% of companies expect their counterparties to go bankrupt.

      “Not only the companies that suffer first are affected by crisis, but also their counterparties within the industry and in production chains. This is one of the features of the current crisis,” Alexander Sinitsyn, the President  of CSR says. According to him, the risk of bankruptcy this year is twice as high as during the 2014 crisis. According to the study, among the reasons for possible bankruptcy, the respondent companies most often indicated a drop in demand, inability to service a loan and a forced suspension of activity.