Thursday, October 29, 2026 The English edition of ostwirtschaft.de Russia by the Numbers
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Russian Business Media Digest

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.

Thursday, 29 October 2026 ← 28 Oct · latest edition

Russia's lower house takes up the three-year federal budget, Rosstat and the Economy Ministry report slower growth and easing weekly inflation, and the central bank keeps its credit limits in place.

State Duma takes up 2027–2029 budget and tax package

The State Duma is scheduled to consider the 2027–2029 federal budget in first reading on Thursday. Revenue is planned at 43.3 trillion rubles in 2027, spending at 48.74 trillion rubles, and the deficit at 5.44 trillion rubles, or 2.2% of GDP. The accompanying tax bill introduces a progressive personal income tax scale of 13% to 22%, a 22% VAT on goods bought by individuals from third-country e-commerce platforms from 2027, and a lower base oil price of $50 per barrel in the budget rule. Foreign investors should note the proposed 35% profit tax rate on dividends paid to type "C" accounts and the higher controlled foreign company threshold of 50%.

Source: Interfax, 29 Oct 2026

Russian GDP growth slows to 0.5% in September

The Economy Ministry estimates GDP grew 0.5% year on year in September, after 0.8% in August. Third-quarter growth was 0.6% year on year, against 1.3% in the second quarter. For January–September, the ministry puts growth at 0.6%.

Source: Interfax, 28 Oct 2026

Weekly inflation at 0.08%, annual rate eases to 7.11%

Rosstat reports consumer prices rose 0.08% between 20 and 26 October, after 0.05% the week before. Year-to-date inflation stands at 6.24%. Interfax calculates annual inflation at 7.11% on the Economy Ministry method, down from 7.15% a week earlier, while the central bank's weekly-based method gives 6.74%. Fruit and vegetable prices rose 1.3% over the week.

Source: Interfax, 28 Oct 2026

Central bank keeps macroprudential limits, targets long-term car loans

The Bank of Russia kept its macroprudential limits for the first quarter of 2027 and set restrictions on car loans longer than seven years and on loans secured by vehicles longer than five years. The regulator says the share of car loans above seven years rose from 8% in the second quarter of 2022 to 26% in the second quarter of 2026. It argues that longer terms let banks understate borrowers' debt burden. The measure affects lenders and automotive financing in the Russian market.

Source: Interfax, 28 Oct 2026

Russian Railways reports nine-month net profit of 75 billion rubles

Russian Railways posted net profit of 75 billion rubles under Russian accounting standards for January–September, against a loss of 4.2 billion rubles a year earlier. Total revenue rose 18.4% to 2.72 trillion rubles, with freight revenue up 12.7%. EBITDA grew 29.6% to 897.7 billion rubles, and net debt to EBITDA stands at 3.0x. The result matters for shippers and counterparties dependent on Russian rail capacity.

Source: Interfax, 28 Oct 2026

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Method: headlines are drawn directly from the papers' own feeds throughout the day and curated down to what matters for economy and business; the Russian original is shown on hover. Each morning the five most consequential economic stories are selected, summarized in English and checked against the original articles before publication. Summaries link to the Russian originals. Selection favors primary reporting on macro, energy, trade, sanctions and corporate Russia over politics. Reading the Russian business press is not an endorsement of its editorial lines — it is where the primary economic reporting happens.