Rate cut number seven PRO Members Public
Russia’s central bank on Friday cut its key rate by 50 basis points to 15%. “The economy is approaching a balanced growth trajectory. In February, price rises slowed as expected after a temporary surge in January. The Bank of Russia estimates that price inflation will continue at a stable
Mideast food crisis another opportunity for Russia PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexander Kolyandr and Alexandra Prokopenko and brought to you by The Bell. This week we cover one underreported aspect of how Russia could benefit from the war in the Middle East: a looming global food crisis and surging
Moscow’s not calling PRO Members Public
Moscow is facing a communications collapse: mobile internet in the capital has been limping through serious outages all week, and whole districts in the city center are without connection. The authorities deny any involvement, but operators say that networks are being restricted on orders from above. Moscow has never experienced
Russia pushes spending cuts despite oil boom PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexander Kolyandr and Alexandra Prokopenko and brought to you by The Bell. Even as hundreds of millions of unexpected dollars flow into Moscow’s coffers thanks to surging oil prices, Moscow is still pressing ahead with spending cuts.
How Russia wins from war in the Middle East PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexander Kolyandr and Alexandra Prokopenko and brought to you by The Bell. Despite facing the possible loss of a geopolitical ally, Russia stands to win big from the Iran war on both the economic and political fronts. Oil,
Russia prepares Telegram endgame PRO Members Public
Russia’s authorities have shifted from slowing Telegram to shutting it down completely. At the same time they have launched a criminal case against founder Pavel Durov on allegations of aiding terrorism. Two sources on the telecoms market told The Bell that Russia’s authorities are preparing to shut down
Russia is already cutting its 2026 budget PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. Barely two months into 2026, the Russian government has already been forced to start talking about spending cuts, as reality starts to bite for its overly
Russia’s economy after four years of war PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. Ahead of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion on February 24, we analyze the irreversible changes the Russian economy has gone through in the four years
How collapsible is Putin's Russia? (The Bell in Moscow's Shadows) PRO Members Public
Four years into the war with Ukraine, what have we learned about the Russian political, bureaucratic and economic system? Is Putin’s Russia running out of money, patience or flexibility? Is it ready for the challenges ahead? Alex Kolyandr discusses it with a renowned Russian scholar, Professor Mark Galeotti, whose
EU tries to sink the shadow fleet PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexander Kolyandr and Alexandra Prokopenko and brought to you by The Bell. This week we analyze why the EU’s latest package of sanctions on Russia, targeting oil exports and the shadow fleet, could be one of its
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The Bell was founded in 2017 by journalists Elizaveta Osetinskaya, Irina Malkova and Peter Mironenko as a news outlet independent from the Russian authorities, after its founders have been sacked as top editors at the largest Russian news website RBC because of pressure from the Kremlin.
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