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.
Russian business coverage on 30–31 August centred on a still-subdued industrial mood, a long-range Far East investment plan, and early signs that consumer demand and e-commerce growth are cooling, alongside sharp moves in food prices and pharmacy-sector consolidation.
The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs' composite business-environment index rose to 43.3 points in August, up 0.9 points on the month, pausing a three-month downtrend but remaining well below the 50-point line that separates deterioration from improvement. The move was driven mainly by respondents' volatile personal assessments, which jumped 8.5 points to 39.6 as answers shifted toward neutral, while the financial-markets sub-index edged up 0.7 points to 41.4. For foreign firms, the reading signals that industrial sentiment has steadied but has not yet turned expansionary.
Source: Kommersant, 31 Aug 2026
The draft Far East development strategy foresees annual investment in the macroregion rising from 4.1 trillion rubles in 2024 to 9.2 trillion rubles (about $107 billion) by 2036, Far East Development Minister Alexei Chekunkov said in an interview with Kommersant. He noted investment has already quadrupled over the past decade and should roughly double again, with the mix shifting toward infrastructure, processing industries and high-tech sectors such as microelectronics, space, robotics, unmanned systems and new energy. The plan sets the government's long-run priorities for capital deployment in Russia's east, relevant to investors weighing Asia-facing projects.
Source: Kommersant, 31 Aug 2026
Russians' spending on marketplaces over recent weeks has run about 15% below levels of one to two months earlier, according to SberIndex data cited by Sberbank CFO Taras Skvortsov in a TASS interview. Year-on-year spending is still growing, but the pace has slowed by nearly half, which Skvortsov called significant and possibly an early sign of a broader shift. He said marketplaces now account for 37% of households' non-food spending and 15% of all consumer spending, up from 24% a year ago, underscoring how central online platforms have become to Russian retail demand.
Source: Forbes, 30 Aug 2026
Wholesale prices for chicken eggs rose 140% between late May and late August and were up about a third year-on-year, Forbes reported, citing Kommersant. Monitoring service Eggpack.ru put the wholesale price of C1 eggs at 60 rubles per dozen on 23 August, up 33.3% year-on-year and 1.4 times higher than on 31 May, while Rosstat's average retail price reached 93 rubles per dozen on 24 August, up 13.3% year-on-year. Producers cite seasonality plus accumulated cost pressure from feed additives, logistics and fuel, and one industry source expects prices to keep rising at least through October, a signal of persistent food-price inflation.
Source: Forbes, 30 Aug 2026
The 20 largest Russian pharmacy chains booked 933.2 billion rubles (about $10.9 billion) in revenue in the first half of 2026, roughly 75% of the commercial pharmacy market that DSM Group values near 1.2 trillion rubles. The chains run 53,963 outlets, about 63% of the country's retail pharmacy network of 85,787 points. Rigla-Zdravsiti led with 152 billion rubles (12.2% of turnover) after distributor Protek merged several chains under the brand in June, while Aprel ranked second with 127.8 billion rubles and the largest store count at 11,232, evidence of accelerating consolidation in Russian pharmacy retail.
Source: Forbes, 31 Aug 2026