Central Bank cuts rates again PRO Members Public
Russia’s Central Bank has cut its base rate for the eighth time running — this time by a cautious 0.5 percentage points to 14.5%. This was in line with consensus expectations, although some economists anticipated a more decisive cut amid high oil prices and falling inflation. * In its
War losses drive Russia’s record low unemployment 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 detail our research showing how Russia’s celebrated low unemployment rate is a direct consequence of the huge numbers of men being killed
Runet gets a new boss: The Bell exclusive PRO Members Public
The Bell has managed to find out who is behind the latest wave of repression against the Russian internet — from restricting calls on messaging apps to blocking Telegram and waging war on VPNs. These crackdowns have already caused businesses to lose millions, as we previously wrote about, and have also
Putin wants to boost Russia’s flagging economy. But how? 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. After President Putin ordered officials to get the Russian economy moving again, we ask how they can deliver and will it be enough to address the
Russia boosts spending in expectation of oil windfall PRO Members Public
The government is gambling on future oil profits rather than waiting for them to actually materialize, the latest budget statistics published by the finance ministry indicate. * Russia’s budget deficit from January to March was 4.58 trillion rubles ($60 billion, or 1.9% of GDP). That’s almost twice
What happens if Russia loses Orban? 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. Ahead of this weekend’s crucial elections in Hungary, we look at what it would mean for Russia if Viktor Orban loses. Orban on the brink.
GDP keeps falling PRO Members Public
Russia’s economy contracted by 1.5% year-on-year in February, the second successive month when annualized GDP was in the red. In January, GDP was down 2.1%. Economic Development Ministry figures show over the first two months of the year, the economy is 1.8% smaller than it was
Internet crackdown shows Russian system crumbling from within 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. This week we analyze what Russia’s escalating campaign against a free internet reveals about the system of power, and why signs of stability on the
Record levels of pessimism among small businesses PRO Members Public
Russia’s entrepreneurs are more pessimistic than at any point in the last five years, according to a joint survey by the FOM polling group and the Higher School of Economics. The quarterly study, which has been running for five years, found 52% of individual entrepreneurs and small-business owners believe
Putin asks businesses to pay for war PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexander Kolyandr, Irina Malkova and Alexandra Prokopenko and brought to you by The Bell. This week we analyze Putin’s call for top business to pay extra for the war in Ukraine even as the Kremlin is cashing
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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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