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.
Cooling demand set the tone on Tuesday: the Central Bank's July survey showed consumer sentiment falling sharply, VTB cut its full-year profit target, Brussels drafted its broadest company-level sanctions expansion to date, Gazprom's parent returned to first-half profit, and Moscow weighed 72 billion rubles a year in tax breaks for the AI industry.
The Bank of Russia's July household survey showed the consumer sentiment index falling 8.3 points to 89.5, driven by an 11.4-point drop in the expectations component to 92.2, Kommersant reports. The think tank TsMAKP notes that household consumption had been the most resilient driver of domestic demand for two years, while a sharp fall in investment was the main cause of the GDP decline in the first quarter of 2026. Economist Dmitry Polevoy told the paper that worsening expectations raise the probability of a gradual cooling of domestic demand, which could over time ease inflationary pressure — a factor the regulator will weigh in its key-rate decisions.
Source: Kommersant, 29 Jul 2026
VTB's second-quarter net profit under IFRS fell 33.6% year-on-year to 92.6 billion rubles (approx. $1.2 billion), below the Interfax consensus of 107.3 billion; first-half profit declined 20% to 225.2 billion rubles. The bank dropped its 600-650 billion ruble guidance range for a point target of 600 billion rubles (approx. $7.6 billion), and first deputy chairman Dmitry Pyanov called a 50% dividend payout for 2026 unlikely. VTB also raised its assumption for the key rate at end-2026 to 13.5% from 12%, cut its GDP growth forecast to 0.6% from 1%, and is proceeding with a 10% headcount reduction at its head office — a read on tighter conditions across Russian banking.
Source: Forbes Russia, 28 Jul 2026
The EU is preparing a sanctions package targeting more than 1,600 companies it says assist Russia, which would expand the number of EU-sanctioned entities by 50%, Bloomberg reported via Interfax. The package, drafted by the European External Action Service over several months, targets specific companies rather than sectors and focuses on parts of Russia's defense-industrial supply chain not yet under restrictions; adoption requires unanimity among member states. For foreign businesses, an expansion on this scale would materially widen counterparty screening obligations in Russia-related trade.
Source: Interfax, 28 Jul 2026
Gazprom's parent company posted a net profit of 78.4 billion rubles (approx. $1.0 billion) under Russian accounting standards for the first half of 2026, against a 10.8 billion ruble loss a year earlier. Revenue rose 2.9% to 3.14 trillion rubles (approx. $40 billion), with gas sales up 2.3% to 1.98 trillion rubles, while cost of sales fell 2.5%, lifting profit from sales 66% to 295 billion rubles. The figures cover the parent entity only; Gazprom calculates dividends from consolidated IFRS results.
Source: Interfax, 28 Jul 2026
The government is discussing support measures for the AI industry worth 71.7 billion rubles (approx. $0.9 billion) a year in foregone budget revenue, RBC reported, cited by Forbes Russia — 52.4 billion for developers and 19.3 billion to stimulate business demand. The costliest measure would extend the IT sector's zero profit tax and reduced social contributions to owners of "national" AI models with their own data centers, at 31 billion rubles a year. Around ten large foundation models could qualify, including those of T-Bank, MTS and Nornickel alongside Yandex and Sber; the Digital Development Ministry says the proposals are under discussion.
Source: Forbes Russia, 28 Jul 2026