The ongoing fall of Mechel’s stocks (presumably brought about by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s unfavorable critique) has already made some of the company’s investors lose money. The share quotations dropped by over 45% and 40% at Russian stock exchanges and at New York Stock Exchange, respectively, on July 25, 2008. The enterprise’s market capitalization decreased by more than 115 billion RUR in just one day.

Mechel Group reports about a quarter of their shares can be bought and sold freely, while the rest of the stock belongs to investors, Igor Zyuzin being the major one. Following the decrease in the share price, some of Mechel’s private minority shareholders in Russia and abroad sustained over 30 billion RUR worth of losses. A lot of investors who bought shares of other Russian companies that are not doing very well either lost some money as well. The Russian stock market’s capitalization might decrease by trillions of rubles at the end of the day.