Russia's Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said that he expects inflation to be higher and the rouble to be weaker than previously estimated over the next few years. These predictions from the finance ministry, which investors often pay more attention to than those from the economy industry, are in line with conservative forecasts by the [...]

The Black Sea resort of Sochi is to be transformed into a wintersports area for the 2014 Winter Olympics at a reported cost of 950bn roubles. Dmitry Chernyshenko, boss of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, will head up the planning and construction of a new new winter community in the North Caucasus mountains, the construction [...]

President Dmitry Medvedev has asked Russia's oligarchs to donate money to help rebuild villages destroyed by the recent fires. The businessmen, who include Oleg Deripaska, owner of the world's largest aluminium firm, mining tycoon Vladimir Potanin and oil magnate Vladimir Yevtushenkov, have pledged to contribute millions of roubles to the recovery efforts. Mr Deripaska pledged [...]

Despite strong oil prices, the rouble's recent gains are being trimmed back due to concerns over the country's persistent heat wave and drought. International investor fears rose and risk aversion grew as they worried about the weather's impact on economic activity. According to dealers, Russia's forex market is extremely concerned about the impact of the [...]

Russian bankers have relied on the rouble bond market as a risk-free option for more than a year now. Thanks to central bank stimulus measures, Russian banks that are too wary to lend directly to corporates, have now found that they don't have to. The stimulus allows them to reap risk-free returns of 130-170 basis [...]