Western investors from a bank to a brewer reported trouble in their Russian operations yesterday due to the Ukraine crisis, while the Kremlin suggested Washington was trying to sabotage President Vladimir Putin’s flagship economic forum.

French Bank Société Générale wrote down the value of its Russian subsidiary, Danish brewer Carlsberg blamed the rouble’s weakness for lower profits, and Britain’s Imperial Tobacco Plc said conditions in Russia had hurt its overall business in growth markets.

So far Western sanctions over Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March have mainly targeted only individuals close to Putin and steered clear of trying to inflict serious damage on the economy.

Russian shares and the rouble surged yesterday after Putin called for separatists in eastern Ukraine to postpone a planned referendum on secession and backed diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis.

However, capital is flooding out of Russia just as it most needs foreign investment to support a faltering economy, and analysts forecast the rouble will fall to new lows against the dollar in the coming year.

Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said top US executives were coming under pressure to stay away from the St Petersburg International Economic Forum later this month, at which the President is due to deliver the keynote address.The annual investment gathering, Russia’s answer to the Davos World Economic Forum, usually attracts an A list of global company bosses but the White House has said it would be inappropriate for heads of big US firms to attend this year.