(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 5, 2014) More than a year and a half after joining the World Trade Organization, Russia has decided the size of its permanent mission to promote the country’s interests at the body’s headquarters in Geneva. The mission will be staffed by 27 representatives of the Economic Development Ministry and five specialists from the Foreign […]
» Read more
(Interfax – February 4, 2014) The economic amnesty declared by the Russian State Duma in July 2013 has already been applied to over 2,000 people, the office of the Russian presidential commissioner for the businessmen’s rights Boris Titov said. “As of February 4, the number of persons, regarding whom the State Duma resolution On Declaring Amnesty of July 2, 2013 […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 3 (Interfax) – Business conditions facing Russian manufacturers continued to worsen at the start of 2014, PMI data from HSBC show. The overall deterioration in the sector was the most substantial since June 2009, with declines registered for output, new orders, exports, employment and purchasing, HSBC said in a research note. Meanwhile, inflationary pressures remained historically weak overall, […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Stanislav Savinov, special to RBTH – February 3, 2014) Stanislav Savinov is a macroeconomic analyst at UFS Investment Company in Moscow. New leadership has given the Russian Central Bank a fresh dynamism that was sorely lacking. The new head, Elvira Nabiullina, is shaking things up, in part by making inflation Enemy No. 1. […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax) – Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev believes that the Russian economy passed through the worst of the economic downturn in the third quarter of 2013 and there are now encouraging signs that the situation is improving. “It seems to me that we passed through the nadir sometime in about the third quarter of 2013. Encouraging signs […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Ben Aris, special to RBTH – January 31, 2014) Russia’s benchmark RTS Index fell 6 percent in 2013 for one of the poorest performances on record. But analysts expect 2014 to be a better year for Russian stocks. Russian equity had one of its worst years on record in 2013, especially compared to […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – January 31, 2014) Entrepreneurship has become an object of intense focus in Russia since the crisis of 2008-2009, as debates continue over the pace and the progress of economic diversification. The expansion of business accelerators and technoparks across the country has indicated the interest in fostering small and medium-sized enterprises. Events such […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg editorial – bloomberg.com – January 30, 2014) The recurrent turmoil in emerging markets raises a difficult question about Russia: Is it a fundamentally sound economy that can weather the storm, or a corrupt autocracy headed for disaster? Unsatisfying as it may be, the answer is both. As the U.S. Federal Reserve starts to pull back on its extraordinary stimulus […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – January 31, 2014) It has been a punishing week for the ruble, and for many, the ghosts of previous crises feel all too near. Despite the Central Bank pouring more than $1 billion a day into propping it up, the Russian currency fell 6 percent against the dollar and reached an all-time […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Irina Reznik, Stephen Bierman and Henry Meyer – January 30, 2014) The record stretched across the history of the party and its socialist predecessor — from the first meeting in March 1898 to the last one in July 1990, a year and a half before the Soviet Union collapsed, Bloomberg Markets will report in its March […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Chris Weafer, special to RBTH – January 30, 2014) Lower rates and higher standards along with more transparency could attract more FDI this year. Chris Weafer is a senior partner at Macro Advisory, a Moscow-based research consultancy. Russia suffered a poor economic performance in 2013 and the government is desperate to avoid a […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 30, 2014) Foreign direct investment in Russia rose by 83 percent last year to reach $94 billion, making the country the 3rd most successful in the world in attracting capital from abroad, according to a United Nations report. The U.S. led the rankings, pulling in $159 billion in 2013, while China attracted $127 billion, […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – January 29, 2014) Alexander Yakovenko, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, ponders how the Olympics will affect international diplomacy and tackles some of the misunderstandings surrounding the Games. In little more than a week, the Winter Olympic Games start in Sochi, but the prospects after this landmark event are visible now. I am […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti -January 29, 2014) The Russian regions do not have sufficient funds to implement the May [2012] orders of Russian President [Vladimir Putin], the Audit Chamber has said. The watchdog has come to this conclusion as a result of the monitoring of the regional situation. The most acute situation has emerged in connection with order No 600 about measures […]
» Read more
(Interfax – January 29, 2014) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered to set up an autonomous non-profit organization, a center for appraisal of World Trade Organization issues, jointly with the National Research University Higher School of Economics and Sberbank (MOEX: SBER), the Russian government website reported on Wednesday. “To establish jointly with the federal state autonomous institution of higher […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – January 28, 2014) The rapidly depreciating ruble recovered slightly on Tuesday, after recording a five-year low against the euro of 47.50 on Monday. On Tuesday afternoon, the Central Bank indicated a rate of 47.37 against the euro, and 40.36 against the weighted currency basket of dollars and euros. The ruble’s managed decline […]
» Read more
(Pavel K. Baev – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 16 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – January 27, 2014) So much self-congratulating has been emanating from the Kremlin following the spectacular triumphs of Russian foreign policy since September 2013, that the court of President Vladimir Putin prefers to ignore the fact that the annual meeting of the World Economic […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, January 28 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian ruble and other emerging market currencies are weakening because of the growing strength of the dollar and the euro, the head of Russia’s central bank said late Monday. Elvira Nabiullina said in a television interview on Channel One that there were no intrinsic problems with the ruble, which has slid to historic […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – January 27, 2014) Around two-fifths of Russians have no idea why their government has committed to lending crisis-hit Ukraine $15 billion in taxpayer money, a survey has revealed. The loan announced in a surprise move late last year was designed to steer debt-strapped Ukraine through a potentially devastating looming balance of payments of crisis. As part of […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 27, 2014) A market economy won’t save Russia from falling apart; indeed, it may even accelerate that process, according to a Moscow commentator, not only by concentrating development in some regions at the expense of others but also by leading to expanded ties between the periphery of the country and foreign […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 24, 2014) The number of newly established Russian companies grew last year while the number of companies ceasing operations decreased, data has shown. According to statistics on the Federal Tax Service website, 411,900 new commercial enterprises were included on the state registry in 2013 an increase of 3.3 percent on 2012. At the […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, January 22 (RIA Novosti) President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that there are too many banks in Russia, Prime business news agency reported. “We have just under a thousand banks. That is, of course, a large quantity of financial institutions for our economy,” Putin said during a meeting with a group of Moscow students. Dozens of Russian banks have […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – January 23, 2014) As analysts air their prognoses for the Russian economy with the start of a new year, one word is circulating among officials and financial experts: stagflation. After 2013’s slowdown in growth – a projected 1.3 percent, according to the World Bank in December, downgraded from an earlier projection of […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – January 22, 2014) A report on Russian regions at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday will call on the country’s policy makers to attempt four key improvements for business. The measures are painfully familiar, but the report seeks to trigger implementation rather than surprise with startling solutions, said Alexander Ivlev, […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – January 22, 2014) The World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of global business and political leaders taking place in Davos, Switzerland this week has played host to a number of interesting Russia-related events. In 1996 a group of Russian oligarchs devised a scheme that saved President Boris Yeltsin from certain defeat in […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, January 22 (RIA Novosti) Russia experienced zero growth in industrial output in 2013, Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov said Wednesday, according to Russia’s Prime economic news agency. But the figure represented a slight recovery at the end of 2013, following a contraction in output earlier in the year. “According to forecasts, by the end of the year […]
» Read more
(“Russia’s Growing Regional Debts Threaten Stability is republished with permission of Stratfor” – January 20, 2014) Editor’s Note: The following is the first installment of a three-part series on growing debt for Russia’s regional governments. Summary Since the 2009 financial crisis, the Kremlin has allowed Russia’s regions to take the brunt of the country’s economic decline in order to keep […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 21, 2014) Real estate specialists say its necessary to head 60 kilometers beyond the MKAD to find quality low cost dachas. If you are dreaming of your own summer cottage in the Russian countryside, now might be the time to start shopping, as real estate specialists report prices on Moscow dachas and land plots […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – January 21, 2014) In a country like Russia, where a fair share of consumer goods come from abroad, the government’s efforts to move to a more flexible exchange rate for the domestic currency could rattle retailers and restaurants big time. Real estate brokers and others dealing in big-ticket items are also concerned. […]
» Read more
(opendemocracy.net – Dmitry Travin – January 22, 2014) Dmitry Travin is Research Director at the European University in St. Petersburg’s Centre of Modernization Studies. Global attention is focused on Russia’s hosting of the Winter Olympics, a PR coup for President Putin. But all is not well on the economic front and the scenario the Russian government will probably choose going […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 22, 2014) Russians should not keep their savings in rubles, as the currency is likely to depreciate, the head of the Banking Institute at the Higher School of Economics Vasily Solodkov said. “From now on, ruble exchange rate fluctuations against dollar and euro will be far more significant,” newspaper Argumenty i Fakty quoted Solodkov […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – January 20, 2014) With a little bit of luck, Russian IPOs could make a comeback in 2014, say bankers, after investors appetite was whetted last year. After almost five years of inactivity due to fears of a second wave of the crisis, 2013 saw several successful Russian IPOs get […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – January 20, 2014) Russian delegates at this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos could have to field uneasy questions about the country’s economic slowdown at a time when Western economies are regaining their confidence. Russia’s economic aid to Ukraine is also likely to surface during discussions at the Swiss alpine resort, in […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – January 17, 2014) Russia is making slow progress in improving economic freedom, according to the “2014 Index of Economic Freedom” report released January 15 by the conservative US think-tank, the Heritage Foundation. Since reassuming the presidency in 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin has launch long-delayed structural reforms to make Russia a more attractive place […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – January 16, 2014) It became apparent that foreign economists and captains of industry view Russia’s economy more positively than the country’s officials, as they mingled and orated during the opening day of the Gaidar Forum in Moscow on Wednesday. However, participants agreed that interdependence in the global economy is unavoidable. Angel Gurria, […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) – Foreign direct investment in Russia’s non-banking sector surged 80% to $78.4 billion in 2013 from $42.8 billion in 2012, balance of payments estimates published on the Central Bank of Russia’s website show. FDI totalled $14.9 billion in the fourth quarter, $13.4 billion in the third quarter, $14.3 billion in the second quarter and $35.8 billion […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, January 17 (RIA Novosti) Up to a fifth of Russians work in a shadow economy that does not generate adequate tax payments, the country’s labor minister said Friday. “Fifteen to 20 percent of citizens” work jobs that do not provide proper tax and social security payments to the government, Maxim Topilin told an economic forum in Moscow. “I […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – SOCHI, January 14, 2014) Standing on Sochi’s Kurortny Prospekt, the city’s main avenue, Sochi’s status as the Nice of Russia is immediately clear; it is not only the site of the upcoming Winter Olympics, but also a place for national celebrities to see and be seen. It is perhaps due to this […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – January 14, 2014) The State Duma in the coming months will focus on legislation that will provide “stability” for businesses at a time of “extremely challenging” economic circumstances in Russia, Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said Tuesday. “Today, almost in every strategic direction of the country’s development there are additional risks. They stem […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – January 14, 2014) The recurring question “What is to be done?” posed by Chernyshevsky and Lenin, will again be posed this week as government officials and international economists gather at the Gaidar Forum in Moscow on Wednesday to find ways out of the ongoing global crisis. The world’s economy is still crawling […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – Russia’s oil and gas condensate output grew 1.0% year-on-year to 523.276 million tonnes (10.508 million barrels a day) in 2013, the Central Dispatching Department of the Fuel and Energy Complex (CDU TEK) said. Russia produced 44.964 million tonnes of oil in December, with the average daily produce of 10.632 million barrels. In 2013 Rosneft (MOEX: […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Vladimir Kuznetsov – January 8, 2014) The ruble strengthened after the resumption of trading in Moscow as oil gained and investors bet next month’s Winter Olympics will support Russia’s currency. The ruble appreciated 0.4 percent to 38.4873 against Bank Rossii’s target basket of dollars and euros by 2:03 p.m. in Moscow. The yield on Russian government […]
» Read more
(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 1 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Pavel K. Baev – January 6, 2014) Seasonal festivities have been unusually subdued in Russia this year – families at every income level and of any ethnic composition are finding it difficult to forget their worries and focus on positive prospects for the coming year. One interval […]
» Read more
(Pravda.ru – Nadezhda Alekseeva) Europe is moaning under the strong influx of immigrants, and the floodgates were opened by European socialists. A poisonous bite of suicidal tolerance has dulled the natural instinct of self-preservation of the European nations. In recent years, Euro-socialism has been trying to take root on the Russian soil, so far without much success. Does it have […]
» Read more
KYIV. Dec 31 (Interfax) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Rybak have congratulated fellow citizens with the New Year and Christmas. The prime minister recalled the main socioeconomic and political events of the outgoing year and said that the year was complicated but certain achievements were still made. “We averted devaluation of the national currency […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Dec 31. (Interfax) – Russia had 6.5% inflation in 2013, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said, quoting preliminary figures. December inflation decelerated to 0.5%, from 0.6% in November. Inflation for the year was below the 6.6% seen in 2012. Russia had 6.1% inflation in 2011 and 8.8% in 2010 and 2009. December inflation was in line with the […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Dec 30 (Interfax) – Private and state consumption accounted for 68.5% of GDP in the third quarter of 2013, up from 65.1% in Q3 2012, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said. Household consumption accounted for 49.4% of GDP in Q3 2013, up from 47.1% a year earlier. State consumption rose to 18.7% of GDP from 17.5%. In absolute […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 30, 2013) Despite the traditionalism being promoted by President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian family continues to change, with more people living alone or with those to whom they are not married and having fewer children than their parents, according to a scholar at Moscow’s Higher School […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – December 26, 2013) For some bank depositors, the second half of 2013 has been a year to increase their intimacy with the state, whether they wanted to or not. Anyone with funds in the more than 30 small and medium-sized commercial banks that lost their licenses this year would have gone to […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax) – Most Russians do not have any savings and, therefore, are not concerned about ways to preserve them; as for those who have bank deposits, they try to minimize their risks by splitting their deposits, having deposits in different banks, and collecting information about various lending institutions, the VTsIOM sociological survey company told Interfax based on […]
» Read more