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Head of Corporate Intelligence, EMEA, at global risk consultancy S-RM, as saying.
About 1,000 companies exited the Russian market over the past two years, the agency said, citing a report by Yale School of Management. Meanwhile, hundreds of companies including French retailer Auchan and Italian clothing group Benetton are still operating or have put business on hold. Many producers of everyday staples and consumer goods have refrained from entirely leaving Russia, arguing that everyday people in Russia rely on their products, Reuters said.
6.0 Public Sector
6.1 Budget
The Russian Federal Government recorded a budget deficit of RUB 1.474bn January-February 2024, narrowing considerably from RUB 2.378bn in the corresponding period of the previous year. Government expenditure jumped by 17.2% from the previous year to RUB 6.499 trillion, largely due to military spending. Meanwhile, revenues surged by 58.8% thanks to higher oil &gas income (71.2%) and non-oil and gas income (53.5%) amid increased taxes and elevated commodity prices.
This time last year and a cheer went up from amongst Ukraine’s supporters. The twin oil sanctions were moving into place and it looked like they were going to work as Russia’s oil revenue collapsed, down by 46% year on year, and the federal budget deficit blew out to unprecedented proportions.
The Russian budget had been reporting surpluses for eleven months in a row in 2022, but collapsed completely that December, ending the year RUB3.3 trillion in deficit, or 2.3% of GDP after the state was hit with a massive RUB3.9 trillion of spending obligations. The Russian budget always does about a fifth of the whole year’s spending in December, but in 2022 the spending was off the scale and ate up all the surpluses accumulated during the year and then a few trillion rubles more.
Things in January 2023 got even worse. The second of the oil sanctions on oil products wasn’t due to go into effect until February 5 but the threat of its effects had already made themselves felt and Ministry of Finance (MinFin) started the year with a whopping RUB1.7 trillion deficit – the largest January deficit on record and already equivalent to half of the full year’s expected deficit.
Two months later the full year forecast was surpassed and Russian Finance
83 RUSSIA Country Report April 2024 www.intellinews.com