Combinedwith the drying up of the global credit market, this has leftmany companies struggling to refinance foreign debt. "It (the rate cut) will have a practical meaning from thepoint of view of making loans cheaper for the non-financialsector. We hope that banks will retranslate the signal into areduction of their lending rates," Ulyukayev said. Andrei Kostin, the chief executive of Russia's secondlargest bank VTB (VTBR.MM) said the reduction in official rateswould cut VTB's own borrowing costs as state-controlled VTBitself is increasingly financed by the state [ID:nLN303365].However, Klepach said of the rate cut: "For it to changethe situation with loans, the lowering of the refinancing ratemust be significant. My personal view -- several percentagepoints at least, though the central bank ... will not do this." The Russian rouble strengthened by around 0.8 percent versusa euro-dollar basket to 38.21 roubles RUS=MCX. The benchmarkRTS indexextended gains after the rate cut announcementto trade up 4.6 percent by 1342 GMT.

PRICES OR POLITICS? Analysts expect the refinancing rate will come down to 11percent by the end of the year, according to the Reuters poll. Rory McFarquhar, senior economist at Goldman Sachs, notedthe proximity of the rate cut to Wednesday's comments from Putinon inflation. "An unfortunate episode, dispelling any semblanceof central bank independence," he wrote in a research note. "In the past, the central bank has resisted pressure fromPutin on exchange rate policy, but rarely has the 'jawboning'been quite as direct as yesterday." The central bank, which does not pre-announce the dates ofits rate-setting meetings, also said on Thursday it would delaya planned rise in mandatory reserve requirements.

"None of the measures announced today are aggressive ...(However) we see scope for further gradual interest rate cuts,barring major adverse surprises on inflation," said Zsolt Papp,chief economist at KBC. -- For the Ulyukayev INTERVIEW please click on [ID:nLN832] -- For a FACTBOX on Russian interest rates see [ID:nRURATES] (Writing by Toni Vorobyova, Editing by Ruth Pitchford) Stocks Currencies Global Markets Russia. He will be dueling with young lefty Dana Eveland who is 3-3 for Oakland.Jonny Gomes should be back in the lineup tonight against the lefty and will look to homer in front of family and friends as he is from close by town Petaluma.Following Wednesday's game the Rays will head home for a three-team home stand with Baltimore, Texas, and the Chicago White Sox in which they will look to gain ground and pass up the AL East leading Boston Red Sox.. When the Sharks finally made the move to dismiss Ron Wilson, my initial reaction was a shrug and a sigh.  I knew it was likely, like most people did.  But I think perhaps more than some people, I fear the unknown.  There just doesn’t seem to be too many big-name candidates out there to lead the team. As GM Doug Wilson pointed out at the State of the Sharks event last night, that shortcoming isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  He related that the last five teams to win the cup did so with first-time champion coaches at the helm.  Would a coach without a ring be a better, more driven, candidate?  Not necessarily. Doug Wilson threw out the nice round number of 40 potential coaches without naming any, of course. I’ll add a second sure thing: whoever heads up the team will have a lot to work with next year.  JR will be back.  Much of the talent will still be under contract, and there will be a good balance of veterans and younger players.  As my esteemed BR colleague MJ Kasprzak has noted, it will be up to the players to make the real run next year. But as we can see in the removal of Ron Wilson, they aren’t always the ones to be held responsible. Surely the coach for the 08-09 campaign will feel the burden of the team’s playoff baggage.  It’s going to be a difficult job this is not a team that needs new leadership because they finished last in the division or failed to make the second-season cut.  This is not a team that is asking a new coach to just do better than the last guy and get a few more wins in the regular season.  San Jose wants its first championship, and it is going to take a dedicated, motivating, and vocal coach to get there. I can’t help but be apprehensive in advance of the decision.