Tag: Economy

Russian imports from non-CIS plummet 38% in 10M – Customs Service

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Truck at Russian Border Crossing

MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax) – Russia’s merchandise imports from outside the CIS plunged 37.9% year-on-year in January-October 2015 to $132.84 billion, the Federal Customs Service (FCS) said, citing preliminary data. In October alone, imports from non-CIS countries totaled $14.375 billion, down 35.9% year-on-year. Imports declined 36.5% in October 2015 year-on-year for food goods and raw materials for their production to […]

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Russian Economy Set to Take Another Hit – A Much Smaller Labor Force in the Future

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Population Disaster, Demographics
Russian Migrant Workers file photo

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, November 8, 2015) To the extent that falling prices for natural resources will force Moscow to rely on the development of other sectors, the Russian economy faces another and perhaps even more serious hit in the near term – a dramatically smaller workforce, each of whose members will have to support significantly […]

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RIA Novosti: One in six Russians overwhelmed by debts – poll

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, November 6, 2015) The majority of Russians are unsatisfied with their financial situation, and nearly each one in six is overwhelmed by a large amount of debts, according to a survey conducted by the National Financial Research Agency. Some 17 per cent of citizens complain about an enormous amount of debts. The percentage of those having […]

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Putin’s Fortress Russia Takes Its Toll

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Sanctions, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – November 5, 2015) It’s difficult to quantify the damage Western economic sanctions have done to Russia. The country’s slump is almost exclusively due to a drop in oil prices, which has led to a sharp currency devaluation and a jump in interest rates. Yet the sanctions have fueled the Kremlin’s paranoia, lending Russia’s […]

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Moscow creates vast new bank from Post Office

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cash, Calculator, Pen

Russia’s postal service joined forces with VTB Bank to establish Post Bank, a new retail lender with three times as many retail branches as the current leader, Sberbank. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Kira Egorova – November 4, 2015) Russia’s government approved the establishment of a massive new bank based on the country’s postal service, a move that […]

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Exiled Kremlin Critic Becomes EBRD Chief Economist

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Sergei Guriev file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 4, 2015) Sergei Guriev, a former adviser to the Russian government who fled the country two years ago, has been appointed chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the bank said in a statement Tuesday. Guriev is to take up his post in summer 2016. He will become the first […]

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Airbnb Sees Rapid Growth in Russia Amid Recession

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 4, 2015) The online lodging service Airbnb has seen rapid growth in Russia as the country’s economic recession forces more Russians to look for ways to supplement their incomes, the Bloomberg news agency reported Tuesday. The Russian business of San Francisco-based Airbnb has doubled during the past year, propelling Moscow into the world’s top […]

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Putin says external pressure gives Russia chance to develop

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth

(Interfax – November 3, 2015) Russia has a unique opportunity to develop because external forces are trying to hinder it, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. He was speaking at a meeting with representatives of scientific, cultural, public and religious organizations in Dagestan on 3 November, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported. “Life has worked out such that for us, […]

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Russians Need 175,000 Rubles a Month to Feel Happy, Poll Shows

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 31, 2015) Russians believe they need an income of at least 175,000 rubles ($2,725) a month to feel happy, according to poll results published by the Izvestia daily Friday. The cost of happiness is higher in Moscow, where an average resident needs at least 193,000 rubles a month to feel happy, the poll by […]

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Foreign IT Companies Threaten to Quit Russia Over Restrictive Legislation

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Science, Technology, Engineering
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – November 3, 2015) Major foreign IT companies could suspend their investment in Russia or withdraw from the country altogether over restrictions in the Russian market, the Kommersant newspaper reported Monday. These restrictions include a Russian law that obliges state agencies to justify the purchases of foreign software from Jan. 1, 2016, as […]

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Kazakhstan down to 56th position, Russia climbs to 58th place in Prosperity Index

Central Asia, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

ASTANA. Nov 3 (Interfax) – Kazakhstan occupies 56th place in the Legatum Institute’s 2015 Prosperity Index, being one position down since the previous year. Norway retained the leading position; its first runner-ups are Switzerland, whose position was also changed, and Denmark. The top ten prosperous countries of the world also include New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Finland and […]

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Is the Russian economy about to be hit by a new drop in oil prices?

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy
Offshore Oil Rig file photo

Low prices for hydrocarbons have led to the record-breaking filling of storage facilities in Europe and the United States, according to data published by Goldman Sachs. Although the report predicts a sharp decline in demand for oil, posing a threat to the Russian economy, Russian experts do not expect panic in the oil market. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru […]

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Russia Oil Production Poised for Record as Industry Defies Slump

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy
Oil Well file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman, Julian Lee – October 29, 2015) Russian oil output is poised to break a post-Soviet record for the fourth time this year as the nation’s producers once again prove themselves resilient to a slump in crude prices. Production of crude and a light oil called condensate is on track to reach 10.77 million barrels […]

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Hard to call Russian banking system healthy – Sberbank exec

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions
Sberbank File Photo

MOSCOW. Oct 28 (Interfax) – It is currently difficult to call the Russian banking system healthy, Sberbank (MOEX: SBER) deputy CEO Bella Zlatkis believes. “If two or three banking institutions in the country close per week, if this number increases by tens in a year, if a whole number of banking institutions are having problems with capital and liquidity, I […]

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Ex-Russian Officials: Stagnation, Declining Living Standards Loom For Russians

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(RFE/RL – WASHINGTON, October 26, 2015) Russia’s economy will stagnate in coming years due to sanctions, low oil prices, and deeper systemic problems, former Russian officials say, but it’s unclear whether this torpor will strengthen political opposition to President Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Milov, a former deputy energy minister and current opposition politician, told an October 26 panel discussion that Russia […]

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European Union Prohibits Studies of Sanctioned Russian Banks

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Sanctions
EU Map

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 23, 2015) The European Union has prohibited its financial institutions from publishing analytical research of the Russian banks under EU sanctions, the European Commission said in a statement. The European Commission, the EU’s legislative body, prohibited publishing research on Russian banks because the analysis contained in the reports could help investors in Russia make […]

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New bankruptcy law may bring Russians relief from debt collectors

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – OLEG YEGÓROV, SPECIAL TO RBTH – October 26, 2015) Debt collectors in Russia often exceed their authority and resort to bullying, intimidation and even physical violence in order to force individuals to pay. However, a new law on individual bankruptcy is designed to help borrowers avoid such unpleasant encounters, though critics fear it […]

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Moscow’s Spending Cuts Undermining Russians’ Health and Reducing Life Expectancy

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Medical Symbol with Pole, Serpents, Wings, adapted from image at lanl.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, October 21, 2015) Guzel Ulumbekova, the head of the Russian Association of Professional Medical Societies, says that the health and life expectancy of Russians is directly related to the amount of government spending on health care and that as this amount is falling, their health is suffering and their life expectancies are […]

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Russian MinFin adjusts revenue for 2016 budget to 13.74 trln rubles, spending to 16.1 trln rubles

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Anton Siluanov file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 22 (Interfax) – The Russian Finance Ministry has increased the parameters for the revenue and spending of the 2016 federal budget to 13.738 trillion rubles and 16.098 trillion rubles, respectively, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told journalists. “Revenue is 13.7385 trillion and spending is 16.0987 trillion rubles,” he said. Earlier the draft budget envisaged revenue of 13.57 trillion […]

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Has Russia’s economy turned the corner?

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – October 22, 2015) Things are pretty grim in the Russian economy, but some of the country’s leading economists are wondering if Russia Inc has turned the corner some 10 months after the biggest devaluation of the ruble since the 1998 crash. “September seems to have been the starting point […]

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Calculating the Cost of Russia’s War in Syria

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Syria
Syria Map

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – October 21, 2015) Russian air strikes in Syria are costing Moscow up to $4 million per day, data collated for The Moscow Times by a defense think tank showed. The figures by IHS Jane’s show that bombing raids, supply runs, infrastructure and ground personnel – along with a salvo of cruise missiles […]

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Interfax: Russian authorities know how to take inflation under control, to reach plan by yearend – Shuvalov

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Igor Shuvalov file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 21 (Interfax) – The Russian authorities know how to take inflation under control; by the end of 2015 it will reach planned levels, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said at the State Duma on Wednesday. “I can say that in terms of growth rates and inflation – which concerned us most of all within the macro […]

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Russian deputy prime minister says no plans to raise pension age

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Two Babushkas file photo

(Interfax – October 20, 2015) Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets has said that the Russian government is not yet planning to raise the pension age. “We are not planning this over the period of time we use for planning. No, we are not,” Golodets told journalists on Tuesday [20 October] when asked when the government was planning to resume discussions […]

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Multinationals pessimistic on Russian market

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – October 19, 2015) Large investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the Russian market, according to a report by Global Counsel, which shows that some are reducing their exposure. Although some groups are holding their options open, and some are even seizing counter-cyclical opportunities, unless the business environment improves more groups […]

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Russia’s Ailing Consumers Keep Door Open for Rate Cuts

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions
Elvira Nabiullina file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ott Ummelas, Anna Andrianova – October 18, 2015) There may be a silver lining for the Bank of Russia in another batch of grim consumer data. While Governor Elvira Nabiullina has set a course for monetary easing to match slowing inflation, policy makers last month paused their easing cycle for the first time in 2015. The […]

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Foreign Investment in Russian Commercial Property Hits 7-Year High

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – October 19, 2015) Foreign investment in Russian commercial property has hit a seven-year high as the weak ruble has made the market more attractive for international companies, the RBC newspaper reported Friday, citing a recent market study. Foreign capital accounted for 42 percent of investment in the commercial real estate market in […]

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Fitness training for dinosaurs; As austerity begins to bite, Russia’s state-owned firms are facing growing pressure to shape up

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Sanctions
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Chris Miller in Moscow – October 15, 2015) Though Vladimir Yakunin was sacked from his post as head of state-owned Russian Railways back in August, the shock is still reverberating through Russia’s biggest and most powerful companies. A long-time friend of President Vladimir Putin, Yakunin was thought to be one of the most influential […]

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Standard & Poor’s Lowers Russian Growth Forecast

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – October 16, 2015) Standard & Poor’s has cut its growth forecast for Russia, predicting that lower and more volatile oil prices will make it harder for the country to emerge from recession. The ratings agency said Thursday that the Russian economy would contract by 3.6 percent this year and grow by only […]

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How will the war in Syria affect the Russian economy?

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Syria
Syria Map

While developments in Syria will not have a great effect on the world’s oil market, if Russia remains involved for long it may stand to lose serious economic support from the Gulf monarchies and could see Ankara driving a hard bargain on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Sergei Alexashenko, […]

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BNE: Investors warm to a lukewarm Russia

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Outdoor Electronic Sign with Russian Exchange Data

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – October 15, 2015) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/investors-warm-lukewarm-russia] The political rhetoric between the Kremlin and the West remains fraught since the start of the Russian bombing campaign in Syria, but investors have started to warm to Russia as an investment destination; Russian bonds are the best performing in the world year […]

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Poll: Russians adjusting to crisis, buying less expensive goods, food

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Interfax – October 15, 2015) Russians have had to adjust their consumer behavior to the ongoing economic crisis. Some 62 percent of them have switched to buying cheaper food and goods (against 58 percent in January), the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) said. The number of people who have been buying fewer goods and spending less on their entertainment […]

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Exiled Russian Economist Reportedly Joining European Development Bank

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Sergei Guriev file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 15, 2015) A prominent Russian economics professor who fled the country two years ago is to be appointed chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), news agency Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Sergei Guriev has lived in self-imposed exile in Paris since 2013. He left […]

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$50 Oil for 15 Years Isn’t What Scares Bank of Russia Governor

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy
Elvira Nabiullina file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Evgenia Pismennaya, Anna Andrianova, Ryan Chilcote – October 14, 2015) Fifteen years of oil at $50 a barrel isn’t the worst nightmare for Russian central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina. “What worries me more is the pace of reforms in the economy that could stimulate private investment,” Nabiullina, 51, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Tuesday. […]

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Foreign media companies leaving Russia as new ownership law looms

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television

With a new law limiting foreign ownership of media in Russia to 20 percent due to come into force on Jan. 1, 2016, many international companies are already leaving the market due to loss of revenue (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Maria Karnaukh, special to RBTH – October 13, 2015) With less than half a year left until […]

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Putin looks back to West as China swing chokes

China, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Russia & the West, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Eurasia Map

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Jason Corcoran in Moscow – October 14, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin is abandoning his much-vaunted pivot to Asian sources of finance, judging by the prominence given to Anglo-American investors during his question & answer session at the VTB Capital conference in Moscow on October 13. A year ago, Western investors were largely absent […]

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Putin Says Russian Economy Stabilizing

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Putin at Desk

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – October 14, 2015) President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday strove to deliver a positive message on the economy, even as output continues to shrink. “We have generally reached the peak of the crisis and overall our economy is gradually adapting to these new economic circumstances,” Putin said during a speech at the VTB […]

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Russia Sees First Capital Inflow in 5 Years

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – October 12, 2015) Russia has recorded its first quarterly net capital inflow in five years, with $5.3 billion flowing into the country from July to September, according to preliminary Central Bank data published Friday. The inflow reverses a period of record capital flight following last year’s sharp fall in the price of […]

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RBTH: Sochi forum: Sanctions curbing foreign investment in innovation in Russia

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Sanctions, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Skolkovo File Photo

Participants of the recent International Investment Forum in Sochi say that U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia are impeding international investment in innovative start-ups, with foreign companies not aware of what they can do under the new conditions. Meanwhile, according to Russian observers, several new innovative clusters may be created in Russia, including in Sochi. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – […]

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Finance Ministry’s Nesterenko: retirement age increase ‘inevitable’

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Pensions, Pensioners, Retirees
Two Babushkas file photo

KRASNOGORSK. Oct 9 (Interfax) – The interim decisions approved for next year in light of the budget deficit do not eliminate the need to raise the retirement age. The draft budget for 2016 approved by the government this week indexes pensions by just 4%, rather than the actual inflation rate in 2015 (about 12%), with an option to conduct a […]

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Sberbank CIB Ivanov consumer confidence tracker shows mood blackens in Russia

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – October 8, 2015) With temperatures plunging more than 30C in a week, as an Indian summer gives rapidly away to snow, maybe it is no wonder the latest installment of Sberbank CIB’s Ivanov Consumer Confidence Index shows Russian are feeling increasingly glum about their lives. The thirteenth issue of […]

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Russian Trust in State Institutions Grows Amid Recession, Sanctions and Foreign Conflicts

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 8, 2015) Russians’ trust in almost every key institution of state has increased during the past two years, even as the country’s economy has tanked and freedom of expression has been eroded. A survey published Wednesday by the Levada Center, an independent pollster, found that public trust in President Vladimir Putin, the army, the […]

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RIA Novosti: Ex-finance minister forecasts more mass layoffs, fall in incomes in Russia

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Alexei Kudrin file photo

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, October 4, 2015) Former Russian Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin believes that the situation on the labour market in the Russian Federation is not improving so far and forecasts that the period of layoffs will continue for some time. “It has now become clear that the situation is not improving, and mass layoffs are starting in the […]

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Medvedev: Russia must cut dependence on oil revenues

Budget, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Oil Wells File Photo

Speaking at a forum in Sochi, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has revealed that oil and gas revenues have provided for less than half of the federal Russian budget for the first time, and said the country must focus on reducing its dependence on oil through reforms, stimulating domestic manufacturing and cutting spending. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – […]

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Russian prime minister warns of tough financial situation, back to 3-year budget

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Dmitri Medvedev file photo

(Interfax – October 2, 2015) The Russian government faces a difficult task in putting together a budget which will be very tough, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 2 October. “The economic situation in the country has changed a great deal in the last year; clearly, living in conditions of 50 dollars […]

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Russians Start Filing for Bankruptcy as New Law Enters Force

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – October 2, 2015) Russian courts received their first personal bankruptcy petitions on Thursday, as the country’s first ever law allowing individuals to declare themselves bankrupt entered into force. On the eve of the law’s arrival, analysts warned that courts could be overwhelmed by a flood of applicants unable to pay debts accumulated […]

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