Economy of Russia

Russian Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said on June 4 it was too early to say the crisis is over in Russia after the economy was hit by Western sanctions and falling oil prices.   

?It?s premature to say that all the features of the crisis are over,? Nabiullina said at a bank congress in Russia?s second city of Saint Petersburg.

The World Bank said on June 1 it expects Russia's economy to contract less sharply than previously thought in 2015, citing a recovery in oil prices in recent months, a stronger ruble and slowing inflation.

The bank, which also raised its forecast for 2016, said it now sees gross domestic product falling by 2.7 percent this year as opposed to by 3.8 percent.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller has said the Russian gas giant will increase its exports to European customers by 5% this year compared to 2014, TASS reported.

Speaking at a business conference in Belgrade, Serbia on Thursday, Miller said the rise in Russian gas exports will come as a result of a drop in gas output in Europe.

Lukoil Bulgaria is responsible for "artificial" prices of petrol in the country, a research team led by former PM Ivan Kostov has claimed.

A large number of enterprises undergoing privatization will file for bankruptcy by July 1, or their employees will be granted shares, says Zeljko Sertic.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has announced a second major drop in the amounts of gas it is intending to extract in 2015.

Gazprom official Vsevolod Cherpanov told reporters that latest projections for this year envisage 450 billion cubic meters, some 35.6 bcm less than what had been initially planned.

Growth will slow in the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia in the coming two years, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released on May 18.

Russian traders and tourists could use the ruble to pay for goods and services in Greece, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak proposed on Monday, inviting Athens to participate in the new development bank that the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are about to create.

Russian energy giant Gazprom, after months of negotiations, has agreed to provide discounts on Russian gas to private Turkish companies, the Kommersant newspaper reported May 5.

According to sources, the parties agreed to reduce the price from $374 to $300 per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of the year. In the second quarter, the price will be reduced to $260.

Simeon Djankov, who last year joined Russian VTB bank's Supervisory Council, is now stepping down, Russian media reports suggest.

The report is run by Russian daily Kommersant [RU], in an article that gives a summary of recent moves by foreign nationals to quit high-profile positions at Russian bank as the country's financial system is suffering from the impact of Russian sanctions.