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. Also: Central Asia Digest · Caucasus wire.
Washington paused its threatened energy-related tariffs on Russia, the ruble firmed, and diesel export channels to the US and other markets began to open.
The White House told Congress on 17-18 October that President Trump is pausing sanctions and tariffs provided for by the "Graham law", including 100% tariffs on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas and 500% tariffs on imports from Russia. The freeze is open-ended, but the president can revisit it at any time. On the Moscow Exchange the yuan fell to 12.4185 rubles by 19:00 Moscow time, and the Bank of Russia set the official rate at 82.8504 rubles per dollar and 93.2316 per euro for 20 October. The reduced tariff risk matters for foreign buyers of Russian energy and for companies exposed to ruble-denominated assets.
Source: Interfax, 19 Oct 2026
After the 9 October Trump-Putin call, the US Treasury's OFAC issued a temporary general licence permitting Russian diesel supplies to the world market. The Russian government partially lifted its export ban from 10 October, allowing 500,000 tonnes to be exported at this stage. The ban for producers otherwise runs to 31 October 2026 and for non-producers to 31 January 2027, and the gasoline export ban remains in force until 31 January 2027. Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov said the Ministry hopes the import damper payments for diesel will stop once the export ban is lifted. For foreign traders, contract terms and volumes still depend on approval by the Russian government.
Source: Interfax, 19 Oct 2026
Net payments abroad on the income line reached $22.9 billion over eight months, exceeding the $22 billion deficit the Bank of Russia assumed for the full year. The central bank expects a current account surplus of $48 billion for 2026, which now requires a stronger goods and services trade result than it assumed. In August the current account surplus rose from $1.6 billion to $3.3 billion, as income paid to foreign investors fell while the trade surplus narrowed. Kommersant notes that the diesel agreement with the US could support exports, but S&P Global analysts caution that the announced volumes may match existing supplies.
Source: Kommersant, 19 Oct 2026
Gazprom shares rose 3.9% to 112.6 rubles on 19 October, the highest since 16 June, while Novatek gained 3.5%. T-Investments analysts linked the move to reports that US envoys discussed resuming Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine. Finam's Yaroslav Kabakov described such gains as speculative and said sustained growth requires better export, cash flow and dividend outlooks; Gazprom has paid no dividends since 2022. The Bank of Russia holds its key rate meeting on 23 October.
Source: Forbes.ru, 19 Oct 2026
China exported passenger cars worth $1.59 billion to Russia in September, up 9.9% month on month and the highest since September 2024, according to Chinese customs data and Interfax calculations. For January-September, shipments totalled $10.7 billion, 2.1 times the level of the same period of 2025. Truck shipments rose 2.3 times in September from August to $144.5 million. Auto parts exports reached $302.6 million in September, and are up 34.2% year on year since January, above $2 billion.
Source: Interfax, 20 Oct 2026
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