Page 23 - RusRPTMar21

Business activity of Russian enterprises in January almost reached pre-pandemic indicators of February 2020, according to a survey conducted by Promsvyazbank, Opora Russia business association, and Magram Market Research agency.
According to the survey, under the RSBI index, business activity of small and medium-sized businesses has been leaning to the growth zone for the third month in a row, and in January 2021 it amounted to 49.3 points, virtually equal to the pre-pandemic indicators of February 2020. The survey included owners and top managers of 1,773 small and medium-sized businesses from all regions of Russia.
It was specified that a value of the index above 50 points means an increase in business activity, below 50 - a decline. In December 2020, business activity was in the zone of decline and amounted to 46.5 points.
December was the third consecutive month of retail trade deterioration, and the 4Q20 drop deepened to -2.8% y/y after a -1.6% y/y decline in 3Q20. The full-year drop of 4.1% y/y is slightly worse than the 4.0% drop we expected.
The deterioration in the retail trade dynamic is in line with the downbeat consumer sentiment index, which slid to it lowest level since mid-2016. Consumption of services also did not show material improvement, showing a 12.5% y/y drop in December, close to rates seen since September. Meanwhile, while services might have been restrained by anti-Covid restrictions enforced as a response to the second wave of infections, retail trade shouldn't have suffered given that there were no material restrictions for shopping.
23 RUSSIA Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com