Alo Vallikivi, head of Estonia’s largest privately owned bank, LHV, has told a journalist in an interview that traders and investors are keeping away from the Russian market.

He said the bad economic climate lies behind an even worse political climate, adding to the pessimism for the future.

He added that whilst the Russian market appears cheap at present due to the very low value of the ruble, the economy is still in the midst of a worsening recession, where he states he cannot advise clients to invest.

He said that LHV clients have largely left the Russian market and are not making any plans to return at present.

The ruble, which is heavily tied to the price of oil, is approaching lows not seen since the beginning of the year when it hit nearly 79 to the euro.

In April it had recovered all the way to 53 to the euro, only to fall back to 77 at one point on Friday.

LHV bank was founded in 1999 and has branches in Tallinn, Tartu, Riga, Vilnius and Helsinki. The bank, whose headquarters are in Estonia’s capital Tallinn, have total assets of €540 million as of 2014.

It is one of the largest brokers on the NASDAQ OMX Baltic stock exchange.