Feb. 3 – Russia is to become Europe’s second largest retail market with sales in 2011 amounting to US$621 billion, according to Euromonitor International, and may become the largest market in Europe by 2013-2014.
Retail sales in Russia rose 9.5 percent year-on-year in December, compared to 2.6 percent growth in the UK. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 30 – Low inflation looks to stay in Russia until at least May, VTB Capital analysts wrote in a note last week.
“Inflation is likely to stay low until at least May, before rebounding in the second half of 2012,” Alexander Zabotkin from VTB Capital wrote in a note published on the firm’s web site.
Earlier this month, Russia’s Central Bank and the Ministry for Economic Development predicted that inflation in 2012 will not exceed 6 percent. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund expects it will reach 6.4 percent this year, IMF representative for Russia Odd Per Brekk said last Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 23 – Central Bank Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday that the net capital outflows that plagued Russia in 2011 and weighed on the ruble are continuing in January, but the country may experience net inflows during 2012.
“We can see that outflows are continuing, because we have had to conduct sales of foreign currency this month,” Ulyukayev said at a Moscow economic conference.
Russia’s central bank has sold some US$600 million to support the ruble since the start of the year, Ulyukayev said earlier. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 19 – A lobby group named the National Payment Council has been established by Visa and MasterCard, together with Russian payment services provider Zolotaya Korona, on Wednesday.
The main reason for the decision of the payment systems to create a lobby is the tightening of the domestic card market regulation by implementation of “The Law on the National Payment System.”
“Visa and MasterCard both worked closely with the government and put much effort into creating the National Payment System bill that President Dmitry Medvedev signed last June,” MasterCard Russia Chief Ilya Ryaby said. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 14 – Financial crimes in Russia last year caused up to US$158 billion (5 trillion rubles) in illegal turnover on the Russian financial market, an amount equal to 10 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product, the Central Bank and Russian Interior Ministry have calculated.
According to their research, 56,700 crimes took place between January and November 2011 that impacted the financial and credit industries of Russia. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 12 – Former Kremlin Chief of Staff Vladislav Surkov, who was removed late December from the presidential administration and appointed deputy prime minister, was given responsibility for social policy on Wednesday in what was seen as a step down.
He was given authority over healthcare, education, housing, demographics, tourism, religion and other social issues, according to a document posted on the cabinet’s website: www.government.ru.
Such social issues are often seen as being of secondary importance in Russia, where the most powerful politicians are usually in charge of security, finance or large industries. Read the rest of this entry »
By Marina Romanova
Sino-Russian series of bad dates
Chinese-American international energy consultant Edward Chow once said that the Russian-Chinese energy relationship isn’t a marriage, but rather “a series of bad dates.” As far as their energy relationship goes – also keeping in mind the two rather extreme types of relationship of ‘honeymoon’ (1950s) and ‘divorce’ (1960s and 1970s) between Beijing and Moscow – the whole Sino-Russian strategic partner can be described with this kind of metaphor.
Chinese businessmen and bureaucrats are playing a part in almost every Russian investment round-table and economic forum. And it wouldn’t be too much to say that almost every presentation by Chinese participants contains some words about Russia’s “investment unattractiveness” as one of the main reasons not to invest in the Russian economy. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 10 – Iran and Russia have replaced the U.S. dollar with their national currencies in bilateral trade, Iran’s Fars News Agency reports, citing Seyed Reza Sajjadi, Tehran’s Ambassador to Moscow.
Speaking to Fars, Sajjadi said that the proposal for replacing the U.S. dollar was raised by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Astana on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting June, 2011. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec. 14 – Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov said on Monday he will run against Vladimir Putin for president next year. Expert opinions on Prokhorov’s decision are divided: some of them believe the New Jersey Nets basketball team owner’s move has been inspired by the Kremlin, while others sees it as his second attempt to come into Russian politics.
Prokhorov, a 46-year-old metals tycoon who is chairman of Polyus Gold, Russia’s largest gold producer, also holds a stake in the aluminum giant RUSAL, and has declared himself a “champion of the middle class.” He has also said he is already working to create a grassroots political party to counter “populist tricks” and promote open dialogue within civil society. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec. 12 – Political uncertainty and the prospect of more large protests are adding an extra layer of concern for foreign investors in Russia.
The MICEX Index tumbled 4.7 percent Tuesday after the first gathering of protestors last Monday evening and the transfer of additional Interior Ministry troops to the Russian capital.
Fear hit the market again on Friday as investors sold on the eve of what may be Russia’s largest demonstration in years near the Kremlin on Saturday. The RTS slipped 4.3 percent on Friday, compared with a 2 percent drop for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and little movement in Brent crude prices. The ruble dropped against the dollar and the euro. Read the rest of this entry »
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