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.
A thin Saturday wire with one dominant theme: the government dug in on fuel-market controls, extending the gasoline export ban through year-end, while a fresh rail tariff order and record Russia-Kazakhstan investment figures rounded out the day.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the ban on gasoline exports, currently in force until 31 July, will be extended to the end of the year for producers and non-producers alike; the diesel export ban will be lifted only "as the market recovers," after which diesel exports matter for keeping refineries at full utilization. The government also plans to cut the mandatory share of fuel sold via the exchange to 2% — a temporary measure for the deficit period, with legal acts expected next week — having already lowered the gasoline quota from 15% to 10% for July through September; freed-up volumes are to flow through direct contracts to agricultural producers, northern supply runs and regions still facing shortages. Full or partial fuel-sale restrictions hit 80 of 89 Russian regions in June and July, according to RBC, so Russian gasoline stays off export markets while the domestic balance is restored.
Source: Forbes, 25 Jul 2026
A government directive dated 22 July orders the FAS to index rail freight tariffs by 8.5% from 1 October 2026, with the increase entering the indexed tariff base; infrastructure charges for long-distance passenger services rise 9.2%. The hike follows the scheduled 10% freight indexation of 1 December 2025, a 1.1 coefficient on empty-run tariffs from January and a 1% transport-security surcharge added in March. For companies moving coal, metals, grain or fertilizer by rail — and for foreign shippers routing cargo through Russia — it is the fourth tariff adjustment in eleven months.
Source: Interfax, 25 Jul 2026
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Omsk that Russian investment in Kazakhstan has reached almost $30 billion, making Russia the largest foreign investor in the country. Bilateral trade came to about $28 billion in 2025 and grew further in the first five months of 2026 year-over-year, and the two governments have assembled a pool of 177 joint industrial projects worth $53 billion, of which 122 are already implemented. The figures underline how deeply the two economies remain integrated — the operative fact for foreign companies that use Kazakhstan as a hub for Russia-related trade.
Source: Interfax, 25 Jul 2026
Industry association AUREK asked the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry to develop an "economically viable model of insurance protection" for goods stored in marketplace warehouses. Test purchases from major insurers showed such inventory is effectively uninsurable today: existing policies exclude compensation for terrorist attacks and drone strikes, and the association warned that losing warehouse stock can halt a seller's business entirely. The request marks drone risk becoming a structural, priced factor in Russian commercial logistics and insurance.
Source: Forbes, 25 Jul 2026