All bets on foreign investment in Russia are off following the sacking of the prime minister, Mr Yevgeny Primakov, overseas analysts said yesterday.

Russian asset prices reeled after President Boris Yeltsin fired Mr Primakov and replaced him with the first deputy prime minister, Mr Sergei Stepashin, a staunch ally.

Russian share trading was suspended twice as stocks plunged more than 16 per cent on news of the sacking, and the rouble fell around 2 per cent to 24.76 against the dollar, or approximately €1.73. Russian debt prices also plummeted, with the global bond due 2018 dropping 61/2 cents on the dollar to 37 cents bid.

Russian markets had revived in recent months and some guarded confidence was starting to return after the country's financial blow-out last August, when many foreign investors were badly hit by devaluation and domestic debt default.

With the Russian stock market up 111 per cent on the year, signs of economic improvement were evident under Mr Primakov. "That's all out of the window now," said Mr Tim Ash, eastern Europe economist at Westdeutsche Landesbank in London.