Category: Russia

Vladimir Putin first stepped into power 15 years ago. His leadership has been bolstered by portraying himself as a patriotic and unshakable president, with unmatchable athletic ability. But in the past year, Putin’s relationship with the West has deteriorated. Russians are struggling under western sanctions after Putin’s annexation of Crimea and continuing support for Russian-separatists in Eastern Ukraine. The rouble has tumbled and the price of oil – Russia’s main export – has slumped. But despite all this, President Putin’s popularity at home has gone up. The Levada Center – an independent Russian polling and research agency – found 87 percent of Russians approved of Putin. Just down from a record high of 89 percent in June. It’s a big increase from 2012 when 64 percent approved of him. So, why are Russians rallying around their leader? Presenter: Laura Kyle Guests: Dmitry Babich – Political Analyst and Contributor to […]

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Low oil prices are just the tip of what ails Russia, according to Moody’s Investors Service. With its dependence on commodities and a slump in investment, Russia will have a hard time recovering from its record economic slump as global oil prices are bound to remain lower for a long time, Yves Lemay, managing director in the sovereign risk group at Moody’s in London, said in an interview on Wednesday. As much as a quarter of Russia’s gross domestic product and two-thirds of its exports are linked to the energy industry, according to the rating company. “Our assessment is that low oil prices are here to stay,” Lemay said. “Without major investment in the infrastructure, modernizing the equipment, oil production in Russia is unlikely to rise and may slowly decline in the coming years.” Crippled by its first recession since 2009, Russia is starved of investment as U.S. and […]

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Russia raised less money than targeted at a debt auction as demand for one series of bonds offered fell to the lowest level since April, the latest sign investors are scaling back bets for interest-rate cuts.. The nation sold 9.82 billion rubles ($172 million) of local debt, known as OFZs, after tendering 15 billion rubles of notes maturing in five and 13 years. While bids exceeded the amount offered, investors’ yield demands were higher than the government was willing to pay following a four-week rally in sovereign bonds. Those gains came to an end this week as investors speculated the impact of potential interest-rate cuts is already factored into prices. The Bank of Russia will make its next decision on borrowing costs on July 31 and Kapital Asset Management expects policy makers will hold off on changing them amid concern inflation isn’t falling fast enough to justify lower interest […]

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OAO Gazprom Neft tumbled the most in seven weeks, leading a slump in U.S.-traded Russian stocks as crude prices extended their decline from this year’s high, prompting investors to withdraw from the world’s largest energy exporter. The oil producer’s American depositary receipts sank 3.8 percent to $11.80 in New York. Trading volume was more than 4 times the daily average of the past three months. It was the worst performance in the Bloomberg Russia-US Equity Index, which slid to a two-week low. Stocks declined as Brent crude, which traders use to price the country’s main export blend, fell 1.6 percent to $56.13, pushing the decline from its May 6 high to 17 percent. Oil, which is selling at about three-fifths its five-year average price, is the country’s biggest export and, along with natural gas, accounts for about half its budget revenue. Lower prices, combined with sanctions linked to the […]

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The biggest exchange-traded fund tracking Russian stocks fell for a second day in New York amid concern that a recovery in oil prices is faltering, weighing on growth in the world’s largest energy exporter and halting a rally in the country’s assets. The Market Vectors Russia ETF slid 1.7 percent to $17.73 on Monday. Energy companies, which make up about 40 percent of the fund, tumbled as Brent crude extended losses in the wake of a third weekly retreat. A Bloomberg index of the most-traded Russian stocks on U.S. exchanges declined for a fourth day in five. Oil’s rebound from a six-year low has lost momentum amid speculation a global glut will be prolonged as U.S. drillers return rigs to fields and Iran seeks to regain market share. While U.S. and European sanctions had already been squeezing Russia’s $2 trillion economy, the outlook worsened as oil, the country’s top […]

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Associated Press AP Photo/Alexander Lukin Latest News Daughter of slain Russian opposition leader moves to Germany Russian bloggers gauging attitudes toward gays find violence Russia lashes out at leaks of MH17 draft report Putin’s spokesman, Olympic ice dancing champ to tie the knot Russian bomber crashes in the Far East, kills 2 var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; King pigeon pose ahead? Putin tells Indian PM: I’ll try yoga var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia (AP) — Artur Bilsky’s Institute of Thermophysics recently sought to buy equipment from a Japanese company that was a routine purchase a few years ago. The request was turned down "categorically," said Bilsky, a researcher at the institute. Hundreds of other Russian scientists are reporting similar experiences of […]

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Photo Russian military vehicles in a field about six miles from the Ukranian border in August 2014. Credit Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press GOLOVINKA, Russia — The southern Russian steppe in summertime typically offers a soul-lifting panorama of wheat fields and sunflowers, swaying in the breezes, and vast empty spaces. It is Russia ’s big sky country, rural and calm. Normally, that is. One morning this spring, the serenity in this village deep in the Russian countryside near the Ukrainian border was broken by a loud, rumbling explosion intense enough to send out window-shattering shock waves. Soon, residents said, Russian soldiers appeared running through the wheat fields, some in their underwear, waving their arms wildly and yelling, “Save yourselves however you can!” The panicked soldiers were not under attack, as it turns out, but were fleeing a fire in a well-stocked ammunition depot at a nearby Russian military base, recalled a […]

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Investors using Russian ruble futures turned bearish this week for the first time since December, according to data compiled the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Hedge funds and large speculators were net short 2,001 futures contracts on the currency in the week ended July 14, wagering that the ruble will decrease in value, the data show. That compares with 999 long positions in the prior five trading days. The ruble dropped 0.9 percent this week, widening its loss from this year’s high to about 14 percent. Brent crude, the oil grade traders use to price the country’s main export blend, slid 2.8 percent to $57.10 per barrel, extending the decline from last year’s high to 50 percent. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimate that Russia’s gross domestic product will contract 3.5 percent this year. The country’s last recession was in 2009.

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