Russia
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the biggest grain exporter of them all?
The race is on between Ukraine and Russia for the title of “world’s biggest grain exporter” and the two rivals are running neck and neck.
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Russian consumer loans ballooning despite CBR measures to cool the market
Unsecured consumer loans in Russia keep on growing, increasing by 25% year-on-year in January-March 2018, Vedomosti daily said on May 17 citing the data by Frank RG. Unsecured loans accounted for RUB1.05tn of the total retail loans volume of RUB1.9tn
BRICKS & MORTAR: Russian real estate market getting back on its feet
Russia’s real estate market is back in play after investment rose by 30% y/y in the first quarter of this year, reports JLL – the best result in the last three years.
COMMENT: Russia's controversial sovereign internet bill will stoke the very protests it is designed to quell
Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 1 signed the controversial sovereign internet bill into law. It will come into force November 1 despite the concern, confusion and even ridicule on show during its State Duma readings.
MOSCOW BLOG: Can Russia halve its poverty level?
President Putin unveiled a very ambitious reform plan during his state of the nation speech on March 1 last year. Among the ambitious goals — some say unattainable goals — the president called for a drastic reduction in poverty.
Russia on track to remain world's biggest grain exporter
Russia is projected to harvest a solid harvest of wheat of over 77mn tonnes and 38.4mn tonnes of feed grain (corn, sorghum, barley, rye, oats, millet), making a total harvest of 115.4mn tonnes in 2019
Russian HeadHunter makes first NASDAQ IPO since 2013
Leading Russian online job search portal HeadHunter completed its IPO on NASDAQ, on May 9 placing 16.3mn ADRs or 32% of capital at $13.5 per ADR, the upper range of price guidance. The shares of the newcomer jumped by 24% at the start of trading
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CEE monthly bond wrap: bond investors suffering April showers and still waiting for the flowers
April was a poor month for bond issues in Central and Eastern Europe as the two biggest markets – Russia and Turkey – were both suffering from political problems that depressed demand.
Russia's nuclear power exports are booming
State-owned Rosatom operates 35 nuclear power stations in Russia, and is actively exporting its nuclear technology to countries around the world.
Russia’s Gazprom tightens control over investment programme in an effort to cut waste
There has been yet another shake up at Russia’s state-owned gas behemoth Gazprom, as the company attempts to improve efficiency and cut down on wasteful spending.
VTB London unit starts relocating to Frankfurt as losses pile up
Russian bank VTB is relocating business lines and bankers from its London unit to Frankfurt after losses from its London unit tripled
Hungary and Russia amend loan agreement on Paks nuclear power plant
Budapest opened talks on rescheduling the Russian loan for the Paks expansion when it became clear that the new blocks would not start operations in 2025-2026 as originally planned.
Russia's Services PMI eases notably in April, composite output down
Russia's services sector posted a notable slowdown in April, as the May 6 report by IHS Markit showed the softest rise in services output since June 2018, while the rate of new business growth slowed down to a ten-month low.
Russian crude production down 0.6% m/m in April, gas output rose 3.9% y/y
The decline in Russian crude output continued to be driven by the production cuts at integrated oil companies under the OPEC+ agreement. The exception was Gazprom Neft, which increased crude output 3.3% m/m.
Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashes at Moscow airport killing at least 41
Surviving members of the crew said the SSJ-100 was struck by lightning after take-off and had to attempt an emergency landing in harsh weather conditions.
Hegemony of state in Russian economy deepens, warns watchdog
The process of the strengthening of state's role in the economy has switched gears, as the state is no longer simply setting the rules of engagement, but attempts to regulate the whole economic system of the country, says the-antitrust regulator
Russia's privately owned oil major Surgutneftegaz makes more profit from its cash pile than producing oil
Russia's privately owned oil major SurgutNefteGaz (Surgut) made more profit from its enormous cash pile than it did from producing oil in 2018, the company reported last week.
GAS WARS: Ukraine faces a bleak winter as Russia prepares to cut it off
Winter is coming and it promises to be bleak for Ukraine as Russia is clearly preparing to cut its neighbour out of its gas transit system completely. bne IntelliNews talks exclusively with executive director of Ukraine’s gas company Naftogaz
Naftogaz triples gas imports, races to build up reserves before Russia’s Gazprom cuts off supplies
Ukraine’s national gas company Naftogaz believes that Russia will cut off its gas supplies completely on January 1, 2020 and is rushing to build up reserves as high as possible so that Ukraine can get through the freezing winter.
COMMENT: Chinese engagement in CESEE: paper dragons and false inevitabilities?
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is no less than an attempt by the Chinese to reshape the international order, but it has acted as a strategic opportunist and has no clear development plan.