(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nabi Abdullaev – ST. PETERSBURG, May 23, 2014) As Russia’s resource export- and consumer- driven economic growth fizzles, dozens of top Russian officials, businesspeople and foreign CEOs put their heads together in St. Petersburg on Thursday in a quest for new drivers to boost the country’s economy. No silver bullet was thrown on the table […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – May 22, 2014) The 18th annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum launches Thursday with enthusiasm about Russia’s economy running low – the country is ambling into a recession, and Russia’s squabble with the West has prompted a mass pullout of foreign forum participants. This year’s edition of the forum, titled “Sustaining Confidence […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Vladimir Kuznetsov – May 19, 2014) Russia reduced its 2014 domestic borrowing plan by 46 percent as the world’s largest energy exporter expects to turn a fiscal surplus, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. The government lowered the fundraising target to 435 billion rubles ($12.6 billion) from 808 billion rubles, Siluanov told reporters in Moscow today. The […]
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(Business New Europe, MOSCOW BLOG – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 19, 2014) The shouting match between west and east continues, but the Russian stock market was surging on May 19, a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to arrive in China, where he is expected to sign a string of massive investment deals. Some […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 14, 2014) Russia has been cited as worst place to invest among the biggest world economies in light of the conflict in Ukraine, according to foreign investors polled by Bloomberg in their quarterly Global Market Investor’s Poll. Nearly 56 percent of respondents said that Russia was a poor place to invest. This is the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – May 14, 2014) Crimea has become a multi-billion dollar sponge soaking up funds slated for crucial infrastructure projects in other regions, as the government scrambles to support its newest territory’s economy. On Tuesday, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said that the federal budget would have to fork out from 160 billion rubles […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 13, 2014) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the heads of Russia’s two largest banks – state-owned Sberbank and VTB – to report their income, expenses and assets as part of an annual anti-corruption checkup. Sberbank’s German Gref, a former economic development minister, and VTB’s Andrei Kostin were among those officials required to report […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Sergey Chernov – May 13, 2014) With a growing number of Western artists boycotting Russia in protest of its annexation of Crimea and destabilization in southeastern Ukraine, a St. Petersburg concert promoter has spoken out against their actions, saying that these musicians are only hurting fans. Ilya Bortnyuk, whose agency Light Music has brought many […]
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MOSCOW, May 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russians have become more satisfied with their quality of life, while their desire to protest has decreased, according to polls by the Levada Center and the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) released Tuesday. Last month, 46 percent of Russians said they were generally satisfied with their quality of life, compared to 43 percent […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – May 9, 2014) For the majority of Russian citizens, international brands are a must: As far as cars are concerned they prefer the Korean Hyundai or KIA, but when it comes to phones they opt for Samsung. Muscovites, unlike the rest of Russia, prefer Apple and Volkswagen products. German and American quality According […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 8, 2014) Russia’s economy is slowing dramatically, but the pain is not evenly spread. While a few Russian regions are making rapid progress and modernising, the bulk are getting into deep financial trouble. “Since the 2009 financial crisis, the Kremlin has allowed Russia’s regions to take the brunt […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – May 8, 2014) Despite the White House’s calls for major firms to boycott the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian officials said Wednesday that the forum would go on as U.S. CEOs bow out but send their deputies. The most prominent international economic meeting in Russia, chaired by President Vladimir Putin, the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Diana Kulchitskaya – May 7, 2014) Visa and MasterCard will hold fast to Russia despite a new law that forces them to pay over $3.8 billion as a security deposit to the Central Bank. Both international firms consider the measures taken as too severe and think that they will not only make work in Russia […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 7, 2014) Nathan Rothschild once famously said, “buy on the sound of canons, sell on the sound of trumpets.” However, the few investors that were still looking at Ukraine are fading away as the cycle of violence escalates and the body count rises. War is close and the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 6, 2014) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/russia-heads-toward-stagnation] The Ukraine crisis has been an economic train wreck for Russia. The outlook for this year was never good, but on April 30 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) argued the Russian economy is already in recession and a growing number of analysts believe […]
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(Interfax – May 5, 2014) Russia filed a suit with the World Trade Organization on April 30 to begin judicial hearings on the application of the European Union’s Third Energy Package, a source close to the WTO told Interfax. The chief trade negotiator at the Economic Development Ministry, Maxim Medvedkov confirmed that the suit has been filed. He said that […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Maria Karnaukh, special to RBTH – May 2, 2014) The 2014 Winter Olympics have already gone down in history as the most expensive Olympics ever, but now they promise to set another record in terms of profits generated by the organizers. The funds from sponsors alone will bring the Sochi Organizing Committee $1.3 […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Lossan, RBTH – May 1, 2014) More than a month has now passed since the EU and the United States first imposed sanctions on Russia in response to what they saw as its annexation of Crimea. On Monday, April 28, the U.S. hit Russia with a further round of sanctions. But what […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anna Andrianova and Andre Tartar – April 29, 2014) Russia faces a fifty-fifty chance of recession, the highest since Bloomberg started to track the measure, as the crisis in Ukraine raises the risk of further sanctions, according to a survey of economists. The probability of a recession over the next 12 months rose to 50 percent, […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Vsevolod Pulya, RBTH – April 28, 2014) The Russian search engine was actually registered in the Netherlands and received its first investments from foreign investors. Nevertheless, it believes that this is “common practice for any internet startup.” Russian search engine Yandex has responded to comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin about foreign influences […]
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(opendemocracy.net – John Weeks – April 25, 2014) ‘Shock therapy’ was imposed on the post-Soviet world by the West, with catastrophic results. Now, we are planning on repeating that experiment in Ukraine. John Weeks is Professor Emeritus, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, and author of Economics of the 1%: How mainstream economics serves the rich, obscures […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – ALABUGA, Tatarstan, April 28, 2014) As Western politicians huffed and puffed about slapping additional sanctions on Russia, captains of big global business in the country showed no jitters as they met with top Russian officials Friday. Moreover, the only person to mention Russia’s clash with the West over Ukraine at a meeting […]
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MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev said Friday that a recent downgrade in Russia’s financial rating was expected and partially due to politically motivated decisions, but is not affecting investors’ behavior. International ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Russia’s rating to BBB- from BBB Friday and kept its outlook negative, amid the ongoing […]
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MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti) – The proportion of “grey capital” outflow from Russia in 2012-2013 reached 20 percent to 40 percent, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday during his annual report in the country’s lower house of parliament. “One of the forms of outflow comes from those who are looking for more attractive markets for their money. And […]
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MOSCOW, April 22 (RIA Novosti) – The current situation with unstable world markets, Western sanctions against Moscow over Crimea, and the country’s own economic problems is a great opportunity to create a new foundation for an industrial-based economy, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday. “The current situation for our government is not only a challenge, but also a great opportunity […]
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MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Finance Ministry has forecast this year’s capital outflow from Russia as reaching $70-80 billion, the director of long-term planning at the ministry said Monday. “We are certain that it won’t jump to $100 billion this year. A more reasonable estimate would be around $70-80 billion,” Maxim Oreshkin said. “The prognosis we have […]
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(Voice of America – Mil Arcega – April 21, 2014) Western sanctions are hurting Russia’s economy. That’s according to the country’s economic minister, who says Russia’s economic output is shrinking as investors take their money elsewhere. But some western companies are bucking that trend – expanding business interests in Russia – even as the U.S. and European allies consider wider […]
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(Interfax – April 15, 2014) New U.S. sanctions against Russia may impact the global economy but may in the end stimulate economic reforms in Russia, businessmen’s rights commissioner Boris Titov said. “Of course, we would like to avoid sanctions. Money loves tranquility that is why the economy can develop only when international relations in the world are aimed at reducing […]
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MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s financial sector is reliable and under control, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said during a meeting with finance officials Tuesday. “We are in a very uneasy situation indeed, that’s why we need to make some allowances … but they are not supposed to be fundamental. On the whole, we think the situation of […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Sangwon Yoon – April 14, 2014) The U.S. readiness to impose new economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine is offset by the European Union’s reluctance to introduce stronger measures that could threaten its already fragile economic recovery. While the Obama administration said yesterday that it’s prepared to ramp up sanctions, possibly to target specific sectors of […]
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MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti), Luidmila Chernova – Russia’s exclusion from the G8 is a knee-jerk reaction provoked by short-sighted interests, which will ultimately lead to economic problems, according to Andrew McKillop, a former chief policy analyst at the European Commission Directorate General for Energy. “It’s a purely political stance, provoked by only political short-term interest, and has nothing to […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – April 10, 2014) U.S. fast food giant Burger King plans to expand its chain into Crimea, filling the vacuum left when McDonald’s pulled out of the peninsula last Friday, citing unspecified supply issues. Burger King currently has no outlets in Crimea, which has been at the center of tensions between Russia and […]
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BERLIN, April 10 (RIA Novosti) – The outflow of capital from Russia is not tied to events in Ukraine, but to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the ruble, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Thursday. “The outflow of capital is not mainly tied to Crimea, the outflow, of course, is connected with the events that happened in […]
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MOSCOW. April 9 (Interfax) – Russia’s Economic Development Ministry has increased its capital outflow forecast for this year to $100 billion from the previous $25 billion, Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said at a Tuesday evening briefing in Moscow. The outflow forecast for next year in the conservative scenario is increased to $50, in the base scenario to $40 […]
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MOSCOW. April 9 (Interfax) – Russia’s Economic Development Ministry has lowered its 2014 GDP growth forecast in the base scenario from 2.5% to 1.1% and in the conservative scenario to 0.5%, Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said during a Tuesday evening briefing in Moscow. The main difference between the two scenarios, Klepach said, is the possibility in the base […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Ben Aris, special to RBTH – April 8, 2014) Ben Aris is the editor-in-chief of Business New Europe. The incursion into the Crimea was as much a shock to Russia’s business leaders as it was to the politicians in Brussels and Washington and is bound to hurt both domestic and foreign investment this […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Anastasia Maltseva, special to RBTH – April 7, 2014) Sociologists have conducted research on what professions Russian parents would like their children to do in the future. The results follow the changing dynamics of the job market in recent years and show that humanities-based occupations are no longer seen as desirable. Sociologists at […]
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(Interfax – April 8, 2014) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its 2014 Russian GDP growth forecast from 2 percent to 1.3 percent. The IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update that the 2015 forecast was now 2.3 percent, down from the 2.5 percent the Fund was predicting in January. CIS economic growth might be 2.3 […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 7, 2014) The domestic consequences of Moscow’s Crimean policy combined with Russia’s weakening economic prospects will drive ever more young Russians to seek work and possibly permanent residence abroad, an “exodus” that will hurt the country far more than any of the sanctions announced so far, according to Yevgeny Gontmakher. In […]
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MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s ailing economy would have collapsed without Russia’s financial help, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that the Eastern European country’s economy had hit a wall last year and was heading for disaster when Russian bailout money averted a catastrophe. “Without the support that they […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Mark Gimein – April 3, 2014) Mark Gimein is Companies and Markets editor at Bloomberg.com, and lead writer for the Market Now blog and newsletter. Russia finally succeeded in selling government bonds this week, at a fat yield of 8.93 percent. This comes after four failed auctions since the Crimea occupation started. Last week, the government […]
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MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) – New housing incentives and high wages will help prevent young Russian scientists from leaving the country, a Russian official said Wednesday during a meeting of young scientists in Siberia. “I think that we should create better conditions so that our young scientists are motivated to build their career here in the country. And by […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 2, 2014) One in four Russians think that the current government is corrupt and self-serving, while about one in eight have nothing bad to say whatsoever about the administration, a recent poll indicates. The most common complaint of the government, selected by 41 percent of those questioned, is its perceived inability to deal with […]
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MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) – A review of ratings of Russian borrowers and the threat of their exclusion from international capital markets may affect Russia’s financial stability, the head of the Central Bank of Russia said Wednesday. “The geopolitical risks are large, especially if our banks and companies run into limitations on refinancing in Western markets, and a review […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dan Pototsky, RBTH – March 31, 2014) RBTH has collected data from the largest Russian recruiting companies, spoken with employees of a range of corporations with different outlooks and made a list of the main distinctions of Russian corporate culture. Note on Russian office culture: The idea that corporate culture in Russia appeared […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 1, 2014) The Cabinet approved a plan to privatize an additional 431 companies through 2016, according to a document published on the government’s website Monday. About 20 percent of Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port, the Russian Lottery, and multiple scientific-research, construction, and agricultural facilities are up for sale, in addition to regional airports, shipping companies […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – PERSPECTIVE – Roland Nash of Verno Investment Research – March 27, 2014) As the conflict between Russia and the West for influence in Ukraine unfolded, finance has found itself in the unfortunate position of sitting squarely in the front line. From the acceptance by Viktor Yanukovych of a $15bn loan from Russia to the […]
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Moscow, 26 March: The rouble is a sanction-proof currency, the first deputy head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Kseniya Yudayeva, has said at a conference in the State Duma. “The rouble is the most sanction-proof currency,” she said without specifying the currencies compared to which the rouble is the most sanction-proof. “We have found a paradoxical thing. […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – March 24, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin named Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, his long-time trusted lieutenant and trouble-shooter, on March 21 to oversee the economic development of the Re public of Crimea. Crimea and the city of Sevastopol were formally incorporated into the Russian Federation as individual federation subjects on March 17. Putin then designated […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, March 24, 2014) The potential of the Crimean economy will depend to a large extent on the development of its economic ties with Ukraine, Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Andrey Klepach told a briefing in Moscow on Monday. Asked what contribution the Crimean economy would make to the Russian economy, the deputy minister said that “it […]
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