Sergei Polonsky is the head of one of the largest building developers in Russia and he's asking journalists not to write him off just yet. "Look, I'm still alive!" says the CEO, an answer to all those who have reported his demise.

Sergei Polonsky's company is still in business. But even if the workers finish the skyscrapers already under construction, the global financial crisis has torpedoed future development prospects. Until further notice all new projects are on hold.

"We have some projects under way which we are not being abandoned," says the Mirax CEO. “We were intending to start them in the first half of next year... For the moment we are going to wait and see what the situation will be like”.
 
In the meantime, Polonsky has written an open letter to the media begging them not to portray the situation so bleakly. But State TV journalists didn't need Polonsky to soften the tone of their reports.

The Russian stock market has suffered a drop double that of Paris and has lost two-thirds of its value in just a few months, but this national channel gives no information on the situation and devotes less than 30 seconds to the financial markets.

In the corridors of Russia's national media there is talk of a directive issued by the Kremlin - on the sensitive issue of the financial crisis, the order is - be positive on TV.

“It’s forbidden to use the word crisis if you’re speaking about Russia,” says Vladimir Vorfolomeev, the vice editorial director of radio Echo Moskvy. “You can't say that the Russian market is falling or that shares are plunging...you have to be more neutral, saying for example that the share value is falling.”

But on the other hand, there are no restrictions when it comes to reporting on Wall Street – there, Russian journalists do speak of crisis and the inevitable recession which shows the limits of capitalism.

“They report that the plummeting US economy is dragging the rest of the world down,” says Vladimir Vorfolomeev. “They report Europe's misfortunes - just like we did in Soviet times. On the one side there's the West, which is in the process of collapsing, and on the other Russia, which if it is not prospering, can at least boast stability”.

And the Kremlin's plan is working: if you believe the opinion polls more and more Russians are convinced that their economy is in good shape. Russians are not worried - for now the crisis is elsewhere and hasn't affected them.