Advisers to western banks trying to exit Russia say a ban introduced by Vladimir Putin 'is disrupting sales and allowing deals to be hijacked by business people close to the Kremlin,' reported from Financial imes.

Advisers working on deals expect the ban to thwart some sales already under discussion, while fundamentally altering the terms of others.

They predict that 'already agreed sale prices will fall by up to half as the Kremlin exerts more influence on deals.'

"There are some very powerful Russians with close links to the Kremlin who are trying to use their influence to grab these entities from fleeing foreigners,” said a person involved in negotiations.

"We’re working [on these types of deals] every day, but it’s becoming more and more challenging all the time,” said Laura Brank, partner at law firm Dechert, who is advising western banks on selling their Russian subsidiaries. "The situation is very fluid and rules are really not clear.”

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