Russians are expected to approve more than 200 changes to the 1993 Russian constitution in the postponed nationwide poll taking place between 25 June and 1 July. Voters have an option of casting their ballots online, at traditional polling stations, or at other pre-registered locations (e.g.… Read the rest
Yesterday, 1 July, Russia concluded a week-long nationwide vote on 206 amendments to the country’s 1993 constitution. The approved constitutional amendments aim to give legitimacy to President Vladimir Putin’s potential re-election after his current term expires in 2024 and quell discussions among political elites about his succession.… Read the rest
The expansion of US sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline could further push back the completion of the project. However, a potentially drawn out adoption process in the US would limit the effectiveness of the proposed measures.… Read the rest
As the Covid-19 curve gradually flattens, the Russian government is restarting preparations for the postponed Victory Day parade and the vote on constitutional amendments. Meanwhile, although Hungary is gearing up to end the government’s rule by decree, controversial appointment of a new Supreme Court president in Poland, and attempts to weaken civic groups and redistribute public funding to media in Slovenia are raising rule of law concerns.… Read the rest
Rosstat recently published some data which looked both disappointing and encouraging. On the one hand, it reported that Russia’s GDP grew just 0.5% in 1Q19, which was well below all expectations.… Read the rest
The CBR can support consumer demand by gradually bringing its key rate closer to more comfortable levels, where the word “comfortable” means comfort not to the foreign buyers of the government bonds and not to local banks, but to local consumers and producers.… Read the rest
In recent weeks a flow of rather hot news was unable to ease the concerns about slowing economic growth worldwide, but Russia was not in the spotlight, as such issues as burning rainforests in Brazil, continuous attempts of the UK government to invent a new recipe of a Full English Brexit, the US government’s own ground-breaking ideas (buying Greenland is just one example) looked more important than Russia-related events.… Read the rest
Rosstat reported that the major economic indicators in May 2019 were not as good as in April, but that was largely expected as there were fewer working days this year in May than in 2018.… Read the rest
Despite the new round of anti-Russian sanctions and the increase of global turbulence in the first half of August, the OFZ market remains calm. We believe that it still contains fundamental value as inflation continues to slow down in Russia, which creates ground for further rate cuts and this fact attracts a wide range of investors.… Read the rest
The recent CBR decision to cut the key interest rate and its generally dovish comments about the future direction of the monetary policy may support demand for OFZ from international players.… Read the rest
