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
Why is Russia legalizing online casinos? PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look at why Moscow is planning to legalize online gambling. Hint: there’s money to be made — both for the national budget and friends of the Kremlin. Winner-winner: Finance ministry and Putin’s cronies stand to gain from legalization of online casinos With Russia facing a
Russia’s wartime parliamentary elections PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we dig into the Kremlin’s campaign to get ex-soldiers elected to parliament later this year — a move that isn’t exactly popular across society. How Russia will exploit the war during this year’s parliamentary elections The Kremlin has officially launched the campaign for the 2026
Russia silent on Venezuela PRO Members Public
Hello and Happy New Year! In our first newsletter of 2026, we look at why Russia is trying to bury its head in the sand over Venezuela. First Assad, now Maduro. Russian allies falling by the wayside. The New Year has brought new headaches for Russia’s foreign policy. In
Trump’s Ukraine plan: Peace on the horizon? PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we, like everybody else, have our attention fixed on just one question: Could Donald Trump’s controversial peace plan lead to an end of the war? Does Trump’s Russia-friendly peace plan stand a chance? Once again, Donald Trump has done a 180-degree turn on Ukraine, proposing
What could Putin and Trump agree on in Budapest? PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we cover the surprise announcement of a second summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, asking why now and what kind of agreement they might reach. Putin-Trump 2.0: Hungary calling The saga of the Putin-Trump talks is entering its second cycle. After yet another round of
Istanbul talks: Russia’s impossible demands PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look in detail at what Russia put on the table at the first direct peace talks with Ukraine in more than three years. We also talk a bit about our dear colleague Irina Pankratova, The Bell’s investigative correspondent who recently passed away. Russia comes to
THE BELL WEEKLY: Can Trump bring peace to Ukraine? PRO Members Public
This week we take a detailed look at Donald Trump’s attempts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, outline what each side wants, what we’ve learnt from the various plans on the table, and how likely an end to the war might be. This is the last free
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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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