What Kommersant, RBC, Vedomosti, Interfax and Forbes Russia report — selected and summarized in English every morning, for readers who don't read Russian. Analysis-grade sourcing, no wire rehash. Data context in the Russia Terminal. Regional wires: Central Asia · Caucasus.
Moscow banned diesel exports and turned to fuel imports, weekly inflation accelerated on fuel prices, the State Duma passed a bankruptcy overhaul, Polus lost a quarter of its market value, and wheat exports set a seasonal record.
At a government meeting on the fuel crisis, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia banned diesel exports on 8 July and will begin importing petroleum products in July to stabilise the domestic market. Novak said motor fuel demand is up roughly a third year-over-year while attacks have damaged many refineries; the zero import duty on petroleum products and additives was extended by one year and Russian Railways has agreed to discuss discounts on fuel-import transport. For foreign traders the signal is stark: one of the world's largest fuel exporters is temporarily buying refined products abroad, with President Putin ordering priority supplies for Crimea and state structures.
Source: Kommersant, 8 Jul 2026
Consumer prices rose 0.31% in the week of 30 June to 6 July, with prices up 0.26% since the start of July, Rosstat reported. Gasoline rose 2.11% and diesel 3.35% in the week; since the start of the year gasoline is up 13.93% and diesel 14.72%, roughly triple the overall inflation rate of 4.49%, with the average gasoline price at 74.01 rubles per litre (ca. 0.97 US dollars). The fuel shock is now the main driver of headline inflation, complicating the Central Bank's rate path.
Source: Vedomosti, Interfax, 8 Jul 2026
The State Duma adopted in third reading a government law creating pre-bankruptcy rehabilitation and court-supervised debt restructuring, shifting Russian insolvency practice from liquidation toward business rescue. Court-approved rehabilitation agreements will be available to large debtors with assets above 1 billion rubles (ca. 13 million US dollars) and will bind dissenting creditors if a majority of independent creditors approve, according to the Economy Ministry. Creditors of Russian counterparties, including foreign ones, face a cram-down mechanism familiar from Western restructuring regimes.
Source: Forbes Russia, 8 Jul 2026
Shares of gold miner Polus fell 26.1% on the Moscow Exchange on 8 July, to a low of 1,350 rubles, after management said it would recommend suspending dividends until 2030 to fund its investment programme. The company remains financially strong — 2025 revenue rose 19% to 8.7 billion US dollars and EBITDA 12% to 6.35 billion — but capital spending jumped 73% to 2.18 billion US dollars as Polus enters the most expensive phase of its Sukhoi Log project, estimated at 6 billion US dollars with launch planned for 2028-2029. The company aims to double gold output to 6 million ounces a year by 2030, a bet that strips one of MOEX's heaviest stocks of its dividend case for years.
Source: Forbes Russia, 8 Jul 2026
Russia exported a preliminary 48 million tonnes of wheat in the 2025/26 agricultural year, up 13.7% from 42.2 million tonnes a season earlier, according to the Rusagrotrans analytical centre. Shipments grew to all top-five buyers despite sharper global competition: Egypt took 9.7 million tonnes (8.8 million a year earlier), Turkey 7.4 million (3.2 million), Sudan 2.3 million, Saudi Arabia 2 million and Kenya 1.9 million. Russia is consolidating its position as the dominant supplier in Middle Eastern and African wheat markets, a benchmark competitors in the EU and US trade against.
Source: Interfax, 8 Jul 2026