Hanging tough in Russia: 'No turning back' for multinationals, but local agencies are suffering.

COCA-Cola Co. 003296175 KO

This article reports that the estimated $2 billion Russian ad market is being pummeled by the nation's worsening economic and political crisis, though multinational marketers and agencies insist they won't abandon the country. Many multinationals have made significant financial and time commitments in Russia, which has a smaller economy than the Netherlands, and are not yet ready to bail out. Tore Kristian Bu, Coca- Cola Co.'s director for the Nordic and Baltic countries and Russia, said that, the crisis is significant, but the company believes that Russia has the willpower and the means, with the help of G8 partners, to find its way out of the crisis.