RUSSIA ECONOMICS
Analyst
Evgeny Gavrilenkov
Former Investment Bank Chief EconomistDatabanks
Recent Country Insights
Russia: a brief market watch
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 22 May 2025
The ruble kept appreciating and broke the USD/RUB80 mark. The last time this level appeared was in the spring of 2023. According to the CBR, household demand on FX shrank by over 50% y-o-y in 4M25. The demand for FX migrated to the primary market of quasi-FX bonds, actively placed in recent month...
Russian macro: Evolving foreign trade payments trim budget revenues
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · Report · 12 May 2025
A few days ago, the Russian Ministry of Finance reported that 4M25 federal budget revenues reached R12.274 trln, i.e., up by 5.0% y-o-y. The figure appears unimpressive amid over 10% y-o-y inflation. Oil-and-gas (O&G) revenues shrank by 10.3% y-o-y to a mere R3.727. Non-O&G revenues grew by 13.5%...
Russia: a brief market watch
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 08 May 2025
The sentiment on local financial markets changed to less optimistic amid the May holiday period. On the one hand, investors turned more skeptical about the possibility of de-escalation of the conflict with Ukraine. Hence, the previously anticipated “peace premium” may cause an asset price correct...
The Russian economy decelerates amid unclear prospects for the rest of the year
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 01 May 2025
Rosstat reported that in 1Q25, industrial output grew by a mere 1.1% y-o-y as in March alone it was up by 0.8% y-o-y. Seasonally adjusted industrial output contracted last month by 0.7% m-o-m. The mining segment was down y-o-y by 3.7% and 4.1% in 1Q25 and March alone. This contraction stemmed mai...
Russia: a brief market watch
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 25 Apr 2025
Financial markets were affected by a couple of the most recent important factors in the past few weeks. First of all, investors were looking at macroeconomic statistics in order to get some clarity about the timing of a forthcoming CBR’s rate cut cycle. Recent statistics point to some deceleratio...
2024 GDP growth revised higher, prompting deceleration in 2025
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 14 Apr 2025
Rosstat published the long-awaited revised quarterly GDP statistics for 2022-2024 and the updated 2024 annual growth figure. The latter now stands at 4.3% versus the 4.1% initial flash estimate. It means that in 2024, economic growth reportedly accelerated as the 2023 GDP grew by 4.1%. Seasonally...
Russia: a brief market watch
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 10 Apr 2025
The Russian financial markets have been under pressure recently, as the "tariff war" story affected markets worldwide. Fears of slower economic growth and an acceleration of inflation globally were extrapolated to the Russian story. Even though Russian financial markets remain ring-fenced from th...
Federal budget performance improves in March
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 09 Apr 2025
The Ministry of Finance reported that in 1Q25, federal budget revenues reached nearly R9.1 trln and were up by 3.8% y-o-y. Oil-and-gas (O&G) revenues accounted for 29.2% of total revenues and were down by 9.8% y-o-y. The non-O&G revenues grew by 10.6% y-o-y, which is more or less in line with the...
Economic activity remains moderate in February, and the trend to persist in 2025
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 03 Apr 2025
Rosstat reported that the output of the five basic sectors (a monthly proxy for aggregate economic activity accounting for industry, agriculture, construction, transportation, and trade) grew by 1.7% y-o-y in 2M25 and 0.3% y-o-y in February alone. The y-o-y numbers look unimpressive (especially i...