Ozon to reimburse UAV-risk insurance costs for clothing and footwear …

According to a source in the United Russia faction, the first plenary session of the ninth State Duma will be held on 30 September; earlier reports said Vyacheslav Volodin would stay on as speaker. After processing 96.95% of ballots, the Central Election Commission said United Russia, the Communist Party, LDPR, New People and A Just Russia had entered the new Duma; in every region that elected a head, the incumbent won, and irregularities were recorded at 20 polling stations.

At a meeting with government members on 23 September, Vladimir Putin said the Kyiv regime had tried to disrupt the State Duma election, as evidenced by the adversary’s persistent attempts to break through air defences over Moscow and other regions. He said queues at polling stations showed Russia could not be intimidated, thanked citizens for turning out for the ninth Duma election and linked the record turnout to public support for the authorities’ efforts to strengthen the country.

Vladimir Putin submitted three candidates for head of Dagestan to the republic’s People’s Assembly: acting head Fyodor Shchukin, parliament deputy speaker Kamil Davdiev, and Samir Abdulkalikov, who leads the Communist Party faction. Under the republic’s constitution the regional head is elected by deputies, with the vote set for the 15 October session. Previous head Sergei Melikov had led the republic since October 2020; in May Putin accepted his resignation and appointed Shchukin acting head.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly high-level week in New York. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s unconditional commitment to the objectives of the special military operation, including through a settlement that removes the conflict’s root causes, and stressed the need to improve relations in line with the two presidents’ agreements, above all on economic cooperation. Washington had earlier said it had invited Putin to the December G20 summit in Miami.

Unlike the 22 September briefing, which said the delisting of individual Russian businessmen had not been adopted that day, the EU has published in its Official Journal the decision to remove Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the sanctions list; neither name appears any more. RBC quotes lawyers saying the unprecedented lifting of sanctions on two billionaires could trigger a domino effect in the EU court, since decisions on other businessmen rest on similar grounds; Fridman’s lawyers said Luxembourg had helped facilitate the delisting.

Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had heard the US invitation, was grateful for it and welcomed it, and would work the participation question through diplomatic channels. The G20 summit will be held in Miami on 14–15 December. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the invitation reflected the need to meet people with whom one has disagreements in order to solve problems; a separate Putin–Trump meeting has not been discussed, though Washington remains open to contacts.

Sergey Lavrov told a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine that had Europeans forced the opposition to implement the February 2014 agreement guaranteed by Berlin, Paris and Warsaw, Ukraine would have kept its territorial integrity within the 1991 borders; he said Europeans had failed to suppress their age-old instinct to lie. He also said Russia was ready for talks on Ukraine to achieve a sustainable and just peace, recalling that Putin had repeatedly spoken of Moscow’s readiness to negotiate. Peskov had earlier said the militarisation of Ukraine continues and European states are still finding money to buy weapons for the Ukrainian army.

According to the Accounts Chamber’s operational report, the federal budget deficit for January–June 2026 came to ₽5.8 trillion, 1.5 times the full-year approved figure of ₽3.8 trillion. Half-year revenues reached ₽18.5 trillion (45.9% of the annual forecast), including ₽3.5 trillion oil and gas and nearly ₽15 trillion non-oil-and-gas; spending was ₽24.4 trillion (54.1% of the revised budget schedule). Domestic financing sources were executed at ₽6.1 trillion, with net OFZ borrowing of ₽2.3 trillion (55.9% of the annual programme). The Chamber forecasts full-year revenues of about ₽38.7 trillion, ₽1.6 trillion (-3.9%) below the approved level. The Finance Ministry had earlier estimated the half-year deficit at ₽5.73 trillion.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration is studying whether a full or partial ban on diesel exports is feasible given overall refining capacity; Trump said he supports the measure and a decision would come soon. US average diesel prices hit a record $6.53 per gallon (3.78 litres), nearly $3 higher than a year earlier, with California at $8.44; wholesale diesel reached about $207 a barrel, more than $100 above crude. The rise is attributed to shrinking global refining capacity, shipping restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz and the attack on a Saudi pipeline.

Bogdan Shablya, head of the Central Bank’s financial monitoring and currency control service, said at the International Banking Forum that the regulator hopes presidential decree 193 will be revised and modified soon. In force since 1 April 2026, the decree bans the export to EAEU countries of cash exceeding the equivalent of $100,000 at the Central Bank’s rate, as well as refined gold bars with a total weight of 100 grams, subject to certain exceptions. He added that the Central Bank, together with the Finance Ministry, Rosfinmonitoring and banks, is tuning the Anti-Drop platform so it does not hit ordinary bona fide customers.

The published Rosfinmonitoring register lists journalist and blogger Yury Dud (born 11 October 1986, previously designated a foreign agent in Russia and sentenced in absentia); no reason for the listing is given. Lawyer Sergei Zhorin explained that inclusion freezes bank accounts and property and puts all related financial transactions under special control; giving him interviews or sharing his videos is not prohibited, but fees, transfers and joint monetisation carry the risk of attracting law-enforcement interest.

Arkhangelsk city hall said a burst heating main left 100 buildings housing eight thousand people without heat or water. The accident was reported to the city’s unified dispatch service at 17:15. Deputy head for urban services Nikolai Khudyakov said full heating is planned for 61 buildings by 03:00 Moscow time, while the remaining 39 buildings (three thousand residents) will temporarily run at reduced pressure via reverse supply; full restoration for all consumers is expected by the end of the working day on 24 September, with TGК-2 starting defect repair on Thursday morning.

Compared with the 22 September report on the fire’s casualties, there is now a procedural development: Sergei Rodionov, owner of the Solnechny mall in Sterlitamak, has been detained. The Investigative Committee says the building’s owner failed to ensure compliance with fire-safety norms in operating the facility, leading to the tragedy. Cases have been opened under Article 109 Part 3 (causing death by negligence to two or more persons) and Article 238 Part 3 (providing services failing safety requirements, causing the death of two or more persons); charges and a preventive measure are being decided. The fire broke out on 22 September over about 2,100 square metres; four women died and 17 people, including a child, were evacuated.

Rosaviatsiya reported in the early hours of 23 September that temporary restrictions on accepting and dispatching aircraft had been imposed at Samara (Kurumoch) and Ufa airports, saying the limits were necessary to ensure flight safety. No end time for the restrictions was given.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defences destroyed 35 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Russian regions between 08:00 and 20:00 Moscow time — over Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Oryol regions, Krasnodar Krai, Bashkortostan and Crimea, and over the Black Sea. The ministry also reported 514 drones intercepted overnight into 23 September, over Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh, Oryol, Kaluga, Lipetsk, Tambov, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk, Saratov, Samara, Ulyanovsk and Rostov regions, plus Krasnodar Krai, Crimea, Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, and over the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

According to the Russian government website, the cabinet has approved an updated programme for the development of Russia’s coal industry through 2050. The first stage, up to 2030, provides state support for coal companies and diversification of coal production, including more efficient mining and processing methods, a wider product range, and stronger production, market and investment potential. The second stage, 2031–2036, aims at rational use of coal in the domestic economy, taking into account the readiness and availability of extraction and processing technologies, regional energy balances and logistics; over those five years the state and subsoil users are to create the conditions for the industry’s transition to a new technological order.

According to a study by the Centre for Analysis of the World Arms Trade (CAMTO) provided to RIA Novosti, Russia ranked second globally in arms exports in 2025 with $15bn, or 12.55% of the world total; the United States was first with $44.603bn (37.32%) and Germany third with $8.903bn (7.45%). They are followed by South Korea ($8.779bn), France ($8.630bn), Israel ($5.995bn), Italy ($5.225bn), Turkey ($4.230bn), Spain ($3.476bn) and China ($2.970bn). Only identified commercial contracts are counted, excluding free military aid; because Russian statistics were closed after the start of the special military operation, the Russian figure is the centre’s expert estimate.

Russian music critic, journalist and TV presenter Sergei Sosedov died on 23 September in Neryungri, Yakutia, where he was on tour, aged 58. He had travelled there to serve on the jury of the Pearl of the Far East international beauty and fashion contest, whose final was due on 25 September. According to sources close to him, doctors recorded his death at 16:41 and it was an accident — a fall down stairs; definitive medical findings will follow the examinations. He became widely known in the late 1990s as one of the sharpest judges on the music show Sharks of the Pen.

Russian Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov discussed the development of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk with Dmitry Markovich, acting chairman of the branch and director of the Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics. The ministry’s press service said Falkov stressed bringing the SKIF shared-research facility to full capacity with concrete products and technologies as the output. From 2027, the branch’s Institute of Nuclear Physics will see its experimental production reconstructed and a new clinical and diagnostic building will be built for the Cardiology Research Institute in Tomsk; from 2030, the BioCatTech centre will launch jointly with the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis and the Institute of Cytology and Genetics. The meeting also covered creating a federal energy and mechanics research centre by merging the Thermophysics and Hydrodynamics institutes, with more than 1,000 staff including over 400 researchers, and building a drop tower about 200 metres high for short-duration microgravity research.

Ozon press service: sellers of clothing, footwear and certain accessories insured with Ingosstrakh against UAV-attack risks will receive a bonus equal to what they actually paid for the policy. The measure runs from 5 October to the end of 2026. To qualify, sellers must set a declared value 5% below the maximum compensation; the first payout arrives in November for the previous month. Ozon also waived mixed-supply handling fees for these sellers until year-end, extended free storage in its logistics centres to 365 days (40 days for bulky goods) and extended free delivery to its Siberian and Kazakhstan facilities until 15 January 2027; premiums paid for goods already destroyed will be refunded after inventory is completed. Context: Ingosstrakh has paid RUB 8.2bn to roughly 90,000 Ozon sellers at the Chapayevsk, Makhachkala and Enem sites. Impact on Chinese sellers: confirmed — the bonus and free storage apply only to sellers stocking Russian Ozon warehouses who bought the insurance; whether FBS or foreign legal entities qualify is not stated. Inferred — waiving mixed-supply fees cuts costs directly for Chinese sellers with many SKUs, but the premium must be paid up front, so working-capital pressure stays with the seller.

M.Video CEO Vladislav Bakalchuk (who joined from Wildberries in spring 2026) said the company is transforming from a consumer-electronics retailer into a multi-category marketplace: broadening assortment, building a partner pickup-point network and shifting part of the business to a commission model. First-half marketplace turnover exceeded RUB 17.7bn, up more than 3x year on year. The financial position remains difficult: 2025 IFRS revenue fell 28% to RUB 324.8bn, total sales fell to RUB 418.1bn and net loss more than tripled to RUB 63.6bn. The group agreed deferred payments on part of its obligations with most banks and sold some non-core assets, including part of its fintech business. Impact on Chinese sellers: inferred — the shift to a commission model and more third-party sellers theoretically opens another channel for Chinese 3C and appliance sellers, but with a large net loss and heavy debt, settlement and payment-timing risk must be assessed independently. Applicability unconfirmed — the interview does not state admission terms or settlement cycles for foreign sellers.

The Finance Ministry and Federal Customs Service published the first three-month results of SPOT, the goods-anticipation confirmation system in force since 1 June for road imports from EAEU countries. By early September the fiscal effect was RUB 33.8bn against a full-year target of RUB 50bn; as of 10 September payable indirect taxes exceeded RUB 218bn, about 544,000 DOPP documents had been issued and around 11,000 importers use the system each month. Customs reports 95% of scanned QR codes are valid and about 600 trucks a week are turned back over paperwork problems. Customs head Valery Pikalyov told President Putin on 21 September that the volume of Chinese goods declared directly into Russia has risen: the scope for understating value and settling the difference in cash has shrunk, and goods are increasingly no longer routed through Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Business wants the security payment replaced with a bank guarantee and the good-faith threshold cut from RUB 30bn of annual revenue to RUB 5–10bn; the ministry said it will work on this in autumn. Extending SPOT to air freight is also under discussion, though customs sees no clear shift of volumes to air or rail. Impact on Chinese sellers: confirmed — the security payment, QR code and three-flow cross-check are in force, making undervaluation harder. Inferred — a higher direct-declaration share will keep pushing up grey-clearance pricing. Applicability unconfirmed — the report does not distinguish Chinese from Russian importers, and it is unknown whether relief on the security payment would extend to foreign entities.

In the key-rate discussion summary published on 23 September, the Central Bank added deteriorating external conditions to its list of pro-inflationary risks: if Middle East tensions persist, global inflation pressure could intensify and Russian import prices could rise faster. It also noted that weak global growth may curb demand for Russian exports. Context: daily vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz fell from about 125 before the conflict to a few dozen by mid-September, while oil rose from USD 63–67 to USD 90–100 a barrel. The transmission runs through higher world prices and logistics costs into landed prices, with rouble weakness passing quickly into the cost of imported goods and components. Impact on Chinese sellers: confirmed — the Central Bank explicitly names import prices as the transmission channel, so landed cost of Chinese goods is more sensitive to FX and freight. Inferred — if tensions persist, tight policy may last longer than the Economic Development Ministry baseline, pressuring both financing costs and end demand. Applicability unconfirmed — the summary gives no categories or magnitudes.

The Transport Ministry has proposed an investment port fee of RUB 20 per tonne of export cargo, collected for ten years, expected to raise over RUB 200bn to complete the Leningrad and Stalingrad icebreakers. Once in service, the escort tariff for these two vessels could fall from RUB 52m to RUB 16m per day; current tariffs have not been revised since 2014. The report notes RUB 20/tonne looked sensitive for exporters in early June but is now seen as a workable compromise given rouble weakness and higher commodity prices. Impact on Chinese sellers: applicability unconfirmed — the fee formally falls on export cargo, imports are not directly affected, and the draft is not yet government-approved. Inferred — if icebreaker escort tariffs fall, Arctic-route shipping costs between China and Russia could eventually decline, but the timing is unknown. Note: the article is marked AI-assistant compiled; rates and amounts come from the ministry proposal.

Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov told Vedomosti that the ministry, together with business, is drafting amendments to Chapter 25 of the Tax Code (corporate profit tax) to clarify which costs companies incur protecting facilities from UAV attacks can be recognised: some outlays currently fail the expense-recognition criteria and need separate rules to count toward the tax base. There is a proposal to apply the new rules as early as 2026, now under discussion in government. He made clear no systemic relief is planned for protection investment, including inclusion in the federal investment tax deduction. Separately, the government plans an inspection moratorium for companies hit by UAV attacks — suspending scheduled and some unscheduled inspections for 2026–2027, an idea put forward by RSPP head Alexander Shokhin. Impact on Chinese sellers: applicability unconfirmed — profit tax applies to Russian taxable entities; only Chinese sellers with a Russian legal entity or permanent establishment could benefit. Inferred — whether protection spending is deductible directly affects costs for sellers with their own warehouses or pickup points, and the inspection moratorium would likewise cover entities registered in Russia.

Management changes have been completed at four foreign-owned Russian assets placed under temporary administration. Ilya Berdnikov (moved to Rosimushchestvo in December 2024, previously headed an X5 department in 2020–2022) became CEO of Auchan LLC; Denis Isaev took Leman PRO; Yevgeny Nenashev took FM Logistic; and L.E.V. Management JSC formally became the management company of Nestle Russia LLC on 23 September, having received stakes in the Nestle, FM Logistic, Auchan and Leman PRO structures on 17 September. In every case incumbents stayed: Oleg Alkhamov, Asya Balabay and Laurent Defassieux continue as executive directors, and Denis Voytyuk retains operational leadership at Nestle. FM Logistic said its task is to preserve operational continuity, and Leman PRO said stores, warehouses and services are running normally. RSPP head Alexander Shokhin said on 23 September this may be a preemptive signal to the EU; Infoline valued the four structures at no less than RUB 600bn. Impact on Chinese sellers: confirmed — the Auchan CEO appointment reported as unconfirmed on 22 September (coverage day 21 Sep) is now confirmed by Kommersant citing company and registry data. Inferred — for FM Logistic as a 3PL and Leman PRO as a major home-improvement seller, the leadership change does not alter contracts for now, but the risk of renegotiated terms and payment schedules should be tracked. Applicability unconfirmed — none of the four has announced any change to supplier or seller contracts.

RBC reports that a single word left out of a Supreme Court review could prove costly for companies. The market had assumed obligations to non-residents could be settled with payments of up to RUB 10m; under the reading now discussed, courts should assess the substance rather than the form of such transactions, creating a risk of retrospective qualification. Impact on Chinese sellers: applicability unconfirmed — this is RBC Pro paywalled content; only the headline and lead were retrievable, with no rule number, scope or effective date. Inferred — if Russian companies paying foreign (including Chinese) counterparties continue splitting payments, the risk of retrospective qualification rises, which could further narrow repatriation options for Chinese sellers. It cannot be asserted that this reading is already in force; verification is required.

AlfaRM told the Pharmacy Summit that Russian online drug sales in January–July 2026 rose 22% in value to RUB 181.8bn but only 2% in packs to 270m units (against +31% and +18% a year earlier). DSM Group puts pharmacy e-commerce turnover up 22.2% at RUB 250.7bn (+33.2% a year earlier); RNC Pharma, including para-pharmacy, values first-half online sales and bookings at RUB 349.4bn (+28.8%). Analysts estimate the online share of pharmacy sales at 17–28% depending on method. Growth is price-driven: the average online basket reached RUB 674 (+19% y/y), rising to RUB 724 by July, versus RUB 392 offline (+12%). Offline volumes have been falling for years: seven-month value +4% to RUB 927bn and units -7% to 2.3bn. The one strong driver is semaglutide/tirzepatide products (Ozempic and Mounjaro analogues): up 2.4x online and 11% of online revenue, versus +60% offline and a 5% share. 36.6 CEO Alexander Kuzin warned of price erosion in that niche as new producers enter, slowing value growth in 2027. Impact on Chinese sellers: inferred — Russian online pharma is a tightly licensed category that Chinese sellers barely enter directly, but flat volumes with value growth driven by price signals consumers are cutting discretionary spending, a useful reference for pricing non-essential categories. No confirmed impact.

Bogdan Shablya, head of the Central Bank financial monitoring and currency control service, said at the International Banking Forum that Presidential Decree No. 193 — in force since 1 April limiting exports of cash roubles and gold to EAEU countries — will soon be tightened, as practice shows more order is needed. Current rules: individuals may not take roubles worth more than the equivalent of USD 100,000 to EAEU states; legal entities and sole traders may not export currency regardless of amount; and since May individuals may not export gold bars totalling more than 100 grams. Exceptions apply at designated international airports (Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, Vladivostok) with certified bank statements. Finance Ministry financial policy director Alexei Yakovlev added that a single information system will be built with the Central Bank and Federal Customs Service to verify documents and prevent one statement being reused for multiple cash shipments; he declined to comment on thresholds. The EAEU comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Impact on Chinese sellers: confirmed — legal entities and sole traders have no threshold exemption for taking currency into the EAEU, so post-tightening compliance risk rises. Inferred — cash settlement along the Central Asia corridor will be further constrained, so moving to bank or formal cross-border settlement in advance makes sense. Applicability unconfirmed — the amending text is not published and threshold changes are unknown.

The rouble turned lower late on 23 September on the Moscow Exchange: by 19:00 the yuan gained 10.1 kopecks to 12.701 roubles. For most of the session the rouble was supported by exporters preparing for the 28 September tax period (personal income tax, social contributions, VAT, mineral extraction tax, excises and profit tax); late profit-taking and a lack of fresh drivers pushed it down. The Central Bank separately set the official dollar rate from 24 September at RUB 84.3969, up 33.12 kopecks, and the euro at RUB 96.7442, up 15.27 kopecks; since 8 June the euro rate is derived from the dollar rate and the ECB euro/dollar rate at 15:30. In its key-rate discussion summary the Central Bank said August rouble weakness reflected lower exporter FX sales and higher importer demand, with part of export proceeds possibly routed directly to pay for imports including equipment. Participants judged the inflationary impact of the depreciation as limited. Oil: at 19:05 November Brent futures were up 3.44% at USD 102.63 a barrel. Impact on Chinese sellers: confirmed — a stronger yuan against the rouble improves the conversion of rouble revenue into yuan, but also raises Russian retail prices for Chinese goods and weighs on demand. Applicability unconfirmed — the summary offers no guidance on import settlement.

Querying the Central Bank interface with date_req=24/09/2026 returns a rate group effective @Date=24.09.2026: USD 84.3969, EUR 96.7442 and CNY 12.5598 roubles. Against the 23.09 group in force on the coverage day (USD 84.0657 / EUR 96.5915 / CNY 12.5291), the dollar is up 33.12 kopecks, the euro 15.27 and the yuan 3.07 — the rouble weakened across all three. Since 8 June the official euro rate is derived from the dollar rate and the ECB euro/dollar rate at 15:30. Impact on Chinese sellers: confirmed — official rates are the basis for customs duties, marketplace settlement and accounting, and a simultaneous rise in the dollar and yuan means higher rouble-denominated import costs. The official yuan rate of 12.5598 differs from the exchange rate of 12.701, so actual transaction prices should govern when converting revenue.

Rosstat: consumer prices rose 0.06% over 15–21 September (0.05% and 0.02% in the two prior weeks), 0.13% over the first 21 days of September and 4.81% since the start of the year. On the Central Bank weekly method, annual inflation as of 21 September slowed to 6.26% from 6.27% a week earlier and 6.33% at end-August; on the Economic Development Ministry daily-average method it was 6.22% versus 6.24%. By item: fruit and vegetables -1.6% (potatoes -3.4%, cabbage -3.3%, carrots -3.0%, apples -2.6%), eggs +2.4%, buckwheat and frozen fish +0.6%, pork and chicken +0.5%; among non-foods smartphones rose notably, +0.7%. Petrol was +0.05% on the week (+21.10% year to date) and diesel -0.66% (+14.74% year to date). The Central Bank board on 11 September held the key rate at 14% for the first time after ten consecutive cuts and kept its 6–7% 2026 inflation forecast; the Interfax early-September consensus is 6.8%. Impact on Chinese sellers: confirmed — smartphones were the notably rising non-food item of the week, directly relevant to 3C sellers pricing windows. Inferred — petrol and diesel up 21.10% and 14.74% year to date keep pushing last-mile delivery costs higher. Applicability unconfirmed — the two annual figures reflect two existing official methods, not a data conflict.

Rosstat quarterly survey: the consumer confidence index fell 3 pp in Q3 2026 to minus 16%, a fifth straight quarterly decline (Q2 -13%, Q1 -12%, Q4 2025 -11%, Q3 2025 -9%). Components: short-term economic expectations -15% (-4 pp), economic change over the past year -26% (-5 pp), expected personal financial position -8% (-3 pp) and actual change -11% (-1 pp); conditions for large purchases -20% (-1 pp) and conditions for saving -23% (-2 pp). The survey ran 1–10 August among over 5,000 respondents across all regions and has been conducted quarterly since 1998. Impact on Chinese sellers: inferred — the large-purchase conditions index fell only slightly but remains deeply negative at -20%, meaning demand for appliances, furniture and 3C is unlikely to rebound soon, so assortment should tilt toward low-ticket essentials; saving conditions at -23% point to deferred spending. No confirmed impact: the index does not map directly to marketplace turnover.