International Capital Markets and Alexei Sidorov

Central Bank: Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis have exacerbated the situation by restricting Russian banks' access to international capital markets, according to The Moscow Times. The regulator has since lowered its rate to 12.5 percent, but financing remains costly, creating an incentive for developers with unused land in their portfolios to sell it off for cash. "Why would you take expensive loans if you have a chance to compensate a deficit of current assets with your own reserves " Alexei Sidorov, director of development at the Kalinka Group real estate consultancy, said in a statement. The cost of financing construction projects has soared since the Central Bank last December hiked its key interest rate from 10.5 percent to 17 percent in an effort to halt a drastic slide in the value of the ruble. The market could see more than 220 hectares of land worth about $1 billion flood the market, the statement said. Twenty-seven such investment offers have been announced in Moscow since the beginning of the year, according to the company. Asian investors with experience as contractors and subcontractors in Russia are likely buyers for the newly available properties, said Yekaterina Rumyantseva, chairman of Kalinka Group board of directors. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.