‘Under the current crisis, a company’s intangible assets and reputation are highly prone to ‘erosion’: the trust level drops really low on the financial mediation market. Both individuals and businesses choose to handle the cash immediately,’ says General Director of Blagodat Securities Investment Company Vsevolod Chaschin.

‘The crisis makes people cut down on their goodwill expenses. A company’s management has to look at each of its assets and decide if it’s functional or not. In case of machinery, the outgoings obviously cannot be reduced or halted, whereas the intangible assets are quite another thing,’ he adds.