A year ago this month, the Russian market was in the midst of a full-blown crash. Everyone from bankers to billionaires were waking up to the terrible realisation that far from being immune to the malaise gripping western economies, they were some of the most exposed.

On September 16 alone, the main RTS Index of Russian shares fell nearly 12% and by mid-November had lost about three quarters of its value. The fall in equities led to the collapse of several Russian brokerages, while bigger firms were forced into emergency deals to save themselves, such as Renaissance Capital's sale of a 50% stake in itself to billionaire businessman Mikhail Prokhorov in return for $500m.