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(NWF), which has increased sharply in value in the last two months to $77bn.
Of 11 former Soviet republics, Ukraine had the best performing currency and Russia had the worst performing currency during the first half of this year, Bloomberg reports. The three Baltic nations were excluded from the survey because they use the Euro. Although oil prices are high – around $78 a barrel – the Russian ruble has been hit by US sanctions, Bloomberg analyzes. Of the 11 currencies, the best performers against the dollar were: Ukrainian hryvnia - +7.14%, Georgian Lari - +6.1% Moldovan Leu - +1.69% and Kyrgyzstani Som - +1.41%.
7.1 FX issues
The government has agreed to the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to loosen currency controls , allowing companies sanctioned by the US and its allies to opt out of repatriation of export revenue. For non-sanctioned companies, the fine for failing to repatriate export earnings will be lowered, Russian exporters have long complained that the requirement to return proceeds to Russia presents one of the biggest obstacles to business. Currently, failure to repatriate earnings racks up a fine of 1/150 of the central bank’s key interest rate (7.25%) of the unreceived amount for each day delinquent. (That’s roughly a.05% fine.) However, if the money is never received, the penalty falls between 75-100%. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov first proposed cancelling this requirement in late 2017 . At the time, the government rejected the proposal. However, the Duma has since changed its stance with the introduction of the latest round of American sanctions on April 6. Sanctioned companies now will be able to settle accounts with their counterparties and receive revenue in foreign bank accounts to spend and use as they see fit.
40 RUSSIA Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com