Russia is losing up to one trillion roubles each year due to its state purchases system being rife with corruption and ineffectiveness. The announcement of the level of money lost each year has come as a big surprise as it is so high, even for an economy as large as Russia's. The corruption within the [...]

Russia’s Federal Grid Company has issued a seven-year 15-billion rouble bond to The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), making it the first Russian power company to achieve such a long maturity on a domestic bond. EBRD, whose investment in the bond amounts to 3.66 billion roubles, has taken up 24 per cent of [...]

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 [...]

While the stock market in Russia has had a poor summer, the country's bond market has picked up thanks to its risk-averse banks. Earlier this year, Russian state Eurobonds due to mature in 2020 were issued at a price of 99.3 to par. They dropped as low as 92.5 in May as investors sold them [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]