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.
Energy exports to the United States, a softer line on the windfall tax and a steady Sberbank result set the agenda on 27-28 October.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said three tankers with Russian diesel are already heading to the US East Coast and a fourth is expected to ship on 28 October. He put total October diesel exports at up to 500,000 tonnes, mostly from Rosneft volumes. The shipments follow a temporary OFAC general licence and a partial lifting of Russia's diesel export ban on 10 October. For foreign traders, the deliveries show that the licence is being used, although Democratic lawmakers in the US have asked banks and ports to preserve records on the deals.
Source: Interfax, 27 Oct 2026
The State Duma budget and tax committee backs the concept of the government's tax amendments but proposes changes before the second reading. It wants the windfall tax to take account of companies' financial position, profitability and ability to pay, noting that higher world prices do not always raise profits. It also asks for a clearer definition of payers of the tax on foreign e-commerce goods and for justification of the higher tax penalties, including for controlled transactions and controlled foreign companies. Companies with cross-border structures should watch the final wording of the penalty provisions.
Source: Kommersant, 28 Oct 2026
Sberbank reported IFRS net profit of 1.530 trillion roubles for January-September, up 17.0% from 1.307 trillion roubles a year earlier. Third-quarter profit was 510.8 billion roubles, up 13.9%. Net interest income rose 23.0% and the net interest margin reached 6.6% against 6.1%. The bank's group capital adequacy ratio (N20.0) fell 1.4 percentage points to 13.7% in the quarter after dividend payments of 850.2 billion roubles in August. The results were in line with analyst consensus.
Source: Interfax, 28 Oct 2026
Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov said non-commodity, non-energy exports reached $109.5 billion, up 7.3% year on year, of which $80 billion was industrial goods. He said more than 80% of export volumes go to countries Russia classes as friendly, with higher supplies to China, Belarus, India and Egypt. The national project target for 2026 is $155.25 billion, 5% below the $163.7 billion recorded in 2025.
Source: Interfax, 27 Oct 2026
Annual growth of the M2X money supply continued to slow and reached 11.3%, the regulator said. Lending and budget operations remained the main sources of growth. Annual growth of lending to the economy fell to 9.9%. Slowing credit growth points to tighter monetary conditions for borrowers.
Source: Vedomosti, 27 Oct 2026
The day's most important Russian economic stories. Free, in your inbox three times a week.
Mon, Wed, Fri. Double opt-in, no tracking, unsubscribe anytime. By subscribing you consent to the processing of your email address as described in our Privacy Policy.