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.
Russia's external accounts strengthened sharply in the first half while the budget gap widened past the full-year plan, and ruble flows into neighbouring markets kept reshaping regional trade and payments.
Russia's current account surplus reached $34.1 billion in the first half of 2026, 1.7 times the year-earlier figure, the Bank of Russia reported. Second-quarter exports rose 27% year-over-year to $125.7 billion on higher prices for oil, coal, fertiliser, grain and metals, while imports grew 16% to $87.4 billion, widening the quarterly trade surplus to $38.3 billion from $23.6 billion; the half-year goods surplus came to $65.4 billion. The central bank has cut its full-year current account forecast to $48 billion from $72 billion in April, and both Sber and Alfa-Bank expect the ruble near 88 per dollar by year-end — a weaker currency for anyone pricing contracts in rubles.
Source: Kommersant, 16 Aug 2026
The federal budget deficit widened to 6.46 trillion rubles (roughly $76 billion) in January–July, or 2.6% of GDP, against an original 2026 plan of 3.8 trillion rubles, or 1.6% of GDP. Analysts polled by Forbes expect the Finance Ministry's OFZ borrowing programme to end the year at 6.5 to 8 trillion rubles instead of the planned 5.5 trillion, weighted toward floating-coupon issues; the ministry has already cancelled two OFZ auctions this summer rather than pay up. Systemically important banks hold 20 trillion rubles of OFZ, double the pre-2022 level, and absorb about two-thirds of primary issuance — concentration that points to higher yields as supply grows and less bank capacity for corporate lending.
Source: Forbes Russia, 17 Aug 2026
Kazakhstan could resume oil deliveries to Germany through the Atyrau–Samara–Druzhba route once infrastructure constraints on the transit side are removed and the parties reach agreement, the Kazakh energy ministry said. Shipments via Druzhba have been suspended since 1 May for what Astana calls technical infrastructure limitations; Kazakh volumes have moved instead through the Russian port of Ust-Luga and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. Until the route reopens, German buyers of Kazakh crude stay on seaborne supply, with the associated freight and insurance costs.
Source: inbusiness.kz, 17 Aug 2026
Russian individuals moved a net 321 billion rubles (about $3.8 billion) abroad in June, the highest monthly figure since July 2025, according to the Bank of Russia's financial market risk review. Rubles made up 55% of the June total and roughly 60% of second-quarter flows of more than 800 billion rubles — the first period on record in which ruble transfers exceeded foreign-currency ones, a consequence of sanctions narrowing the number of banks handling hard currency. After sanctions hit the Zolotaya Korona transfer system in late July, T-Bank reported volumes on the five affected corridors settling about 27% higher, with Georgia up 135%, Belarus up 52% and Azerbaijan up 20%.
Source: Forbes Russia, 17 Aug 2026
Russian wheat shipments to Kyrgyzstan rose 4.5-fold in the first months of 2026, to 178,968 tonnes worth $39.07 million from 39,369 tonnes worth just over $8 million a year earlier. Russia now supplies 76.4% of Kyrgyzstan's 234,098 tonnes of wheat imports, pushing last year's leader Kazakhstan into second place at 55,131 tonnes worth $12.6 million; total Russian exports to Kyrgyzstan reached $1.39 billion in January–May. The swap shows Russian grain taking share from Kazakh volumes inside the Eurasian Economic Union, a market where both countries trade tariff-free.
Source: 24.kg, 16 Aug 2026