Early last week Russia widened the trading band for the rouble, which was followed by a one per cent rise against the dollar the next day. The rouble’s one per cent rise against the dollar marks a nine-month high, although it’s still 20 per cent off 2008’s highest figures. It was the first time the [...]

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Alexei Kudrin, has said this week that the Russian Reserve Fund will grow to 1.5 trillion roubles by the end of the year. The Reserve Fund currently stands at 700 billion roubles. Kudrin this week promised that the fund would reach the 1.5 trillion roubles figure ahead [...]

The Central Bank of Russia has made the decision to leave interest rates unchanged, even though consumer prices are surging. It chose, instead, to increase the reserve requirements of banks, with the aim of cutting rouble liquidity. These reserve requirements were raised from 1 February. A statement from the Central Bank said: "The decision is [...]

Following its winning bid to host the 2018 World Cup, Russia has suffered a big blow as several of its football clubs have been forced to pull out of the Russian championship due to financial difficulties. One club, Saturn Ramenskoye, has pulled out of the championship following a decision by the Moscow region government to [...]

If the Russian government raised the minimum capital requirement, the vast majority of the country's banks will be forced to borrow a total of 455 billion roubles. Russian central bank board member Mikhail Sukhov spoke at the government's banking sector strategy discussions, saying, "Only one third of Russia's 1,100-plus banking system is ready to meet [...]

A stake in the Russian venue for the 2018 World Cup final is up for sale, as part of a bid to raise 13.9 billion roubles to help towards the cost of staging the event. Luzhniki Stadium has been included on a list of commercial enterprises due to be sold to private investors next year. [...]

In a bid to fill in a large gap in Moscow's budget, the city's Mayor has announced that he plans to plunder government assets. Company shares are to go up for auction as part of a privatisation programme to help City Hall to source another 13 billion roubles next year. This amount is more than [...]

Isbank, Turkey's largest listed lender, is in the final stages of a purchase of small Russian commercial bank, Sofia. As reported by Russian daily newspaper, the Kommersant, the deal would be the first acquisition by a strategic investor of a Russian bank since the 2008/2009 financial crisis. The price of the deal stands at around [...]

The tax on oil products in Russia should be raised, according to the country's Energy Ministry, which has claimed this would rake in an extra 8.55 trillion roubles for the state over the next decade. Alongside raising tax on oil products, reducing duties on crude oil was also suggested by the Ministry, as was reducing [...]

Between now and 2013, a total of 46.7 billion roubles will be spent on developing and maintaining a complex system to improve safety on all forms of transport across Russia. The country's railroads will receive 2.7 billion roubles, which will go towards improving the security of railroad lines across the country. Over three years, the [...]