Bank of Russia: online retail turnover fell in August–September as ma…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a cybersecurity meeting that, amid digitalisation and the direct and hybrid external aggression Russia faces, cyber threats against the economy, logistics, transport, the social sphere, life-support systems and public administration are reaching a new level. He stressed that digital security systems must be improved to neutralise these threats.

The Federation Council held its 620th plenary sitting on 14 October, with 20 items on the agenda; three laws were approved. According to the documents, 2025 federal budget revenues amounted to RUB 37.3 trln and expenditure to RUB 42.9 trln; the minimum wage was raised by 16.6% and the subsistence minimum by 14.8%; all social benefits and payments were indexed to actual inflation of 9.5%. Two further laws covered the 2025 execution of the Social Fund budget with a deficit of RUB 1.2 trln (revenues RUB 16.4 trln, spending RUB 17.6 trln) and the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund budget with a surplus of RUB 80.74 bn (revenues RUB 4.45 trln, spending RUB 4.37 trln). During the government hour, Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov reported on measures to improve the quality of higher education.

Russia's Supreme Court on 14 October, acting on a suit from the Prosecutor General's Office, designated the Community of Followers of Batal-Haji Belkhoroev (the Batalhajis) a terrorist organisation and banned its activity. The FSB Centre for Public Relations said members attacked authorities in Ingushetia in 2004, killing 78 people and injuring more than 200; took part in the 2009 bombing of the Nevsky Express train, which killed 27; and that a 2019 attack in Moscow killed Ibragim Eldzharkiev, head of the Ingushetia Interior Ministry's counter-extremism centre, and his brother. Members are also considered involved in the 2024 Crocus City Hall attack; Dzhabrail Aushev and Khussein Medov, sentenced to life, allegedly handled weapons supplies. Estimates of the group's size range from 20,000 to 35,000 people.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, said Vladimir Putin will travel to Shenzhen in November for the APEC summit, where another conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected. Lavrov said the two leaders are in regular contact and have already met twice in 2026 — during Putin's official visit to China and on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek. He noted that the international situation has not become simpler since their last meeting, including in the Middle East. The APEC summit in Shenzhen is scheduled for 18–19 November.

The EU Council has removed Russian entrepreneur and Safmar group founder Mikhail Gutseriev from its Belarus-related sanctions list, while EU sanctions against Russia concerning him remain in force. Belarusian businessman Viktor Shevtsov was removed from the list alongside him. The restrictions had involved asset freezes and an EU entry ban. The EU first imposed sanctions on Gutseriev in 2021 and extended them several times; in May the EU court upheld his action to annul the sanctions imposed in February 2025, having failed to prove that he continued to benefit from or support the Lukashenko regime at the time of the ruling.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko said agreements on Russia's bases in Syria may be signed before the end of the year. He said an interim memorandum was signed in August on transforming Russian military facilities into joint Russian-Syrian training and logistics centres, and that intergovernmental agreements on these facilities are now being prepared and will fix the future status of the Russian bases.

Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov arrived on a working visit to Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, to attend the CIS Council of Defence Ministers. The Russian Defence Ministry press service said delegations from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as representatives of the CIS defence ministers' council secretariat, are expected to attend. The session is to consider current issues of military cooperation in the CIS and coordinate joint activities of the Commonwealth armed forces for 2027. Bilateral meetings with heads of delegations and a visit to Russian military facilities in Kyrgyzstan are also planned.

According to Rosstat, consumer prices in Russia rose 0.11% from 6 to 12 October, almost nine times less than the previous week; since the start of the year prices are up 6.1%, 1.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier. Food rose 0.21%, including 0.03% for fruit and vegetables; non-food goods rose 0.1% and observed services 0.02%. Potatoes fell 0.3%, onions 1.3%, cabbage 0.8%, carrots 2.1%, mutton 0.09% and sugar 0.5%. The report also notes that the Central Bank earlier reported analysts raising inflation forecasts: 7.1% for 2026, 5% for 2027 and 4.2% for 2028, with the 4% target reached only in 2029.

In its commentary on a business survey, the Bank of Russia said corporate price expectations fell to 21 points in October after rising since July, though they remain above the level of Q2 2026. The decline was seen in most industries except electricity, water supply and agriculture; higher expectations in electricity and water supply reflect the scheduled indexation of utility tariffs from 1 October 2026. The average expected pace of price growth over the next three months (annualised) eased to 6.4% from 6.6% in September; the lowest is expected in agriculture (2.2%) and the highest in electricity (37.3%) and water supply (31.7%). The business climate indicator rose to 1.2 points after minus 2.4 in September. The next Central Bank board meeting on the key rate is scheduled for 23 October.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told journalists on the sidelines of Russian Energy Week that by the end of the year Russia could start supplying 3–3.5 mn tonnes of diesel fuel to the world market, more than 10% of global diesel consumption. He said that, under the agreements reached, supplies will go to world markets including directly to the United States. He said prices worldwide, including in Europe, will adjust once Russian diesel supplies begin, calling this a positive signal for the Russian economy linked to higher refinery throughput and oil output.

State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin ordered an analysis of utility tariff indexation across Russian regions, tasking Irina Guseva, chair of the Duma committee on regional policy and local self-government, with the work. He said those responsible for tariff indexation must justify their decisions and suggested studying the experience of Moscow, St Petersburg, Kazan and Tyumen, where heat and water supply are run by municipal enterprises, while other regions use concession schemes. Volodin recalled that Vladimir Putin had earlier asked deputies to focus on whether utility tariffs are justified.

The Investigative Committee's Dagestan directorate said a criminal case for abuse of authority has been opened against the former head of the republican health ministry's pharmacy and state procurement department. Investigators say that in March he signed a contract worth more than RUB 143 mn for dietary food products without sufficient grounds, leaving local residents with chronic illnesses without needed medicines and requiring additional budget funding. He is also said to have unjustifiably cancelled earlier applications to purchase vital medicines. The materials came from the FSB directorate for Dagestan.

Deputy Health Minister Sergey Glagolev told a State Duma health protection committee meeting that stocks of vital and essential medicines amount to about eight months, according to the government's analytical dashboard. He said a mechanism exists to index prices of medicines at risk of shortage in order to maintain adequate stocks in the country. He added that price growth for vital and essential medicines is currently below inflation.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on the sidelines of Russian Energy Week that, according to the Energy Ministry and companies, two oil refineries in Russia's Saratov and Ryazan regions were attacked on 14 October. He said the Ukrainian side is not showing movement towards an energy truce.

Rosaviatsia reported that Penza and Saratov airports have temporarily suspended flight servicing, while Moscow's Domodedovo is operating under coordination. The agency said Domodedovo is accepting and dispatching flights in coordination with the relevant authorities due to temporary restrictions on the use of airspace in the airport area, with possible schedule adjustments. Temporary restrictions on accepting and dispatching aircraft were also imposed at Penza and Saratov airports.

Bryansk region governor Yegor Kovalchuk reported the death of a local woman following a kamikaze drone attack. It happened in the village of Gorodishche, Pogar district; the victim was 58 years old. The text gives no further detail on casualties or damage.

According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, as recorded on 14 October, Atomenergoprom (part of the Rosatom state corporation) has become the owner of 100% of Delo Management Company, the parent of the Delo Group. Rosatom, which previously held 49% of the group, completed the buyout of founder Sergey Shishkarev's 51% stake earlier in October. Under the Russian roulette procedure, the price for Shishkarev to buy Rosatom's stake was set at RUB 74 bn and his own stake at RUB 77 bn; the shareholder dispute ended on 7 October. Rosatom said the deal allows final consolidation of its logistics assets, including Delo Group and FESCO, eliminating duplicated investment and saving up to RUB 100 bn over the next ten years.

Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev said the ministry helped Yandex find backup sites to relocate key systems after drone strikes on its data centres, and that the company managed to do this quickly. He said the geographic distribution of these sites reduces dependence on individual large facilities and keeps services available even when a site is seriously damaged. In recent days three Yandex data centres were hit — in Ryazan region, Kaluga and Vladimir; the company did not disclose where it is moving capacity. A source on the IT market was cited as saying replacement equipment delivery times run up to six months.

World Gymnastics said it deeply regrets the refusal of the Netherlands to issue visas to three Russian athletes. The statement stresses that visas for all participants are issued solely at the discretion of the Dutch authorities and that the federation cannot explain the reasons for the refusals; it says it continues dialogue with the Dutch authorities, the local organising committee and the Russian Gymnastics Federation. It also notes the negative impact on the Russian delegation's preparation. It was reported earlier that the Netherlands refused visas to Russian women's team leaders Angelina Melnikova, Viktoria Listunova and Anna Kalmykova.

Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov told the Federation Council that from 2027 every programme at Russian universities will include mandatory artificial intelligence modules — a basic one for first-year students and a specialised one tied to the profession. He said universities already run around 1,500 AI-related programmes, that AI modules have been included in all programmes and are being refined together with the AI alliance. He recalled that in June the ministry proposed two mandatory AI modules under the new higher education model, with the basic module to be piloted at 17 universities.

In its Regional Economy review, compiled from an October survey of 11,500 companies, the Bank of Russia reports that Russian online retail turnover declined in August–September "due to damage to warehouse infrastructure and the resulting logistics difficulties at marketplaces." The regulator says the decline "was not fully offset by traditional retail," but led to some improvement in offline demand assessments. Retailers in various regions reported higher sales as delivery times on marketplaces lengthened: in the Central Federal District some retailers noted higher clothing sales in offline stores while online sales fell, and in the Volga-Vyatka macro-region demand dynamics in construction materials weakened slightly, though individual retailers reported higher offline sales because of marketplace difficulties. Rosstat data: retail turnover rose 5.1% year-on-year over eight months, with growth slowing to 3.3% in August from 5.3% in July. The article gives no specific figure for the drop in marketplace turnover.

The Yandex Advertising press service said that from 14 October 2026 advertisers can top up their Yandex Direct balance manually, through their account manager or support; the company plans to restore access to personal accounts "in the coming days." According to Yandex, campaigns in Search, the RSYA network, Maps and other surfaces continue to run and ad impressions never stopped; the system records actual impressions, clicks and conversions, keeps statistics and honours advertiser settings. Planning and launching digital out-of-home advertising has also resumed: while the Direct interface is unavailable, advertisers and agencies can agree placement addresses, timing, impression volume and frequency, and campaign cost with a manager, with basic analytics (impressions, reach, potential ad contacts) available. The geo-media advertising account and ad formats in Yandex Maps are fully available, with banners, pins, billboards and route recommendation among the formats that can be run without restrictions; extended statistics require third-party verifiers. On 13 October the PromoStranitsy account restored data on read-throughs, external clicks and interested users; conversions from Yandex Metrica are not yet shown and will appear after data transfer is restored. The press service noted traffic volumes remain slightly below normal. Context: three Yandex data centres were hit by drone attacks between 8 and 11 October.

Rosstat data: Russian retail petrol prices rose 0.01% week-on-week over 6–12 October 2026, after rising 0.29% over 29 September–5 October, while diesel fell 0.04% after a 0.07% decline the previous week. As of 12 October, petrol was up 21.37% since the start of the year and diesel up 13.48%, against headline inflation of 6.1% over the same period. The national average petrol price was 78.68 roubles per litre on 12 October (78.73 on 5 October), with AI-92 at 74.71, AI-95 at 80.92 and AI-98 at 104.50; the average diesel price was 86.67 roubles per litre (86.72 on 5 October). For comparison, petrol rose 10.78% over 2025 against headline inflation of 5.59%, and 11.13% in 2024 against 9.52%.

Atomenergoprom (part of the state corporation Rosatom) was registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on 14 October 2026 as holder of 100% of Delo Management Company, the parent of the Delo Group; Rosatom, which previously held 49%, closed the purchase of founder Sergey Shishkarev's 51% stake earlier in October. Under the mutual buyout procedure (dubbed "Russian roulette"), the price for Shishkarev to buy Rosatom's stake was set at 74 billion roubles and for Rosatom to buy his at 77 billion roubles; the shareholder dispute ended on 7 October. After closing, Rosatom announced the "final consolidation" of all its logistics assets and the creation of a common management centre for Delo Group, FESCO (Far Eastern Shipping Company, over 90% owned by Rosatom) and other assets, saying this would eliminate duplicate investment and save up to 100 billion roubles over the next ten years. Delo Group operates sea container terminals in the Azov–Black Sea, Baltic and Far East basins, a network of rail container terminals, and a fleet of containers and container flatcars; its transport and logistics arm includes the intermodal container operator TransContainer and the multimodal operator Ruscon, while its stevedoring arm includes the DeloPorts holding and the Global Ports container terminal operator. Shishkarev said he will stay in Russian logistics and plans to direct a significant part of the proceeds to national security needs. The article says nothing about the effect of the ownership change on current tariffs or customer contracts.

The State Duma financial market committee recommended passing bill No. 1269756-8 in the first reading; it would include in the deposit insurance system (SSV) banks that are only entitled to raise funds from legal entities and sole proprietors. The explanatory note says 21 such banks operated in the sector at end-2025, with the ceiling on their funds not exceeding 1% of total insurance liability; inclusion would not give them the right to raise retail deposits or open and maintain accounts for individuals. A newly created bank would be included on the basis of its licence. Requirements on shareholder structure disclosure and ownership transparency move to the law on banks and banking activity: for breaches lasting six consecutive months the CBR may bar a bank from raising insured funds, and a bank whose ownership is deemed non-transparent for three or more consecutive months will pay contributions to the mandatory deposit insurance fund at a higher additional rate. Payouts may be made via the faster payments system using a phone number, but only to the depositor's own account. The bill also introduces a single corporate liquidator: the deposit insurance agency (ASV) becomes the bankruptcy manager and liquidator of all credit institutions and takes on temporary administration functions after licence revocation. The government backed the document; if adopted it enters into force 180 days after official publication, with the first reading scheduled for 20 October.

Delovaya Rossiya said in a press release that reports of a programme it had prepared for submission to the authorities at a forum on 15 October were inaccurate. Chairman Alexey Repik said that "with the exception of the concept of applying the investment tax deduction (both basic and deferred), the document in question bears only a very conditional relation to the agenda"; he said such a deduction could become a tool for restarting the investment cycle. He stressed that the organisation is not proposing early cancellation of experimental tax regimes and that it would be advisable first to define approaches to the future taxation system for small and medium-sized businesses. Repik noted that some business proposals discussed at various venues will be brought to the 15 October forum, but that the initiatives covered by the media are not on its agenda. Vedomosti recalls that RBC reported on 13 October that Delovaya Rossiya had prepared a programme of more than 50 initiatives for economic transformation, including cancellation of some SME preferences, an inheritance tax and contributions from non-working rentiers.

Analytical company Ntech estimates that the average portion in the ready-meal category was 266 g in September 2026, down 10.3% year-on-year. The company cites two possible reasons: deliberate portion reduction to keep prices unchanged, and the growing popularity of small formats — in the first half of 2026 sales of onigiri, sandwiches and hot dogs rose 48% year-on-year, main dishes 16%, and salads and snacks 14%. Mr.Food commercial director Yaroslav Svobodin sees shrinkflation (smaller packs at the same price) as the main cause, adding that with rising raw material, service and distribution costs neither the market nor consumers accept price increases, while intensifying competition further suppresses prices. One Story partner Olga Sumishevskaya adds the effect of inflation and cooling consumer demand. The Association of Ready-Meal Producers and Suppliers argues it is primarily a change in demand structure: small formats are gaining popularity while traditional home-style dishes retain steady demand. VkusVill notes a slight decline in the average weight of ready meals sold, with small formats up 14% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2026 against 11.8% for the category overall. AKOРТ chairman Stanislav Bogdanov says ready-meal sales at large federal chains rose on average 30% last year and by more than 48% at some players in the first half of 2026; retail stores currently account for about a quarter of the total ready-meal market, a share that could rise to 40% by 2030. He also notes that ready meals are a low-margin category: short shelf lives put write-offs at about 14% of revenue versus 3%–4% on average for other fresh categories; the association adds that the category needs frequent small-batch deliveries, and rising logistics costs lead to some assortment contraction. Infoline previously forecast Russian ready-meal market growth of nearly 18% to 1.32 trillion roubles for 2026, with dynamics slowing 0.5 pp versus 2025 and 10.5 pp versus 2024.

Rosstat data: Russia produced 2,600 tonnes of caviar substitutes in January–August 2026, up 28.9% year-on-year, with August up 46.9% to 334.2 tonnes. Total output of caviar and its substitutes fell 17.4% year-on-year to 49,800 tonnes. Salmon roe output fell 68.4% year-on-year to 3,100 tonnes, with the median retail price up 59% to 17,100 roubles per kg and the number of purchases down 17%. According to a fiscal data operator, purchases of imitation red caviar rose 14% year-on-year in January–September 2026 while the average ticket rose 10% to 595 roubles per pack. German Zverev, president of the All-Russian Association of Fishing Industry Enterprises, explains that substitutes fall into structured and imitated types: the former are made from roe mass (raw material from damaged, burst, crushed or small eggs) with additives giving an appearance almost indistinguishable from the natural product; the latter are made from a brown-algae polysaccharide prepared in fish broth, with the coloured and flavoured solution dripped into calcium chloride. The Fish Union links higher prices to a poor salmon season: VNIRO data put the salmon catch at 98,600 tonnes on 12 October, down 60.3% year-on-year; red caviar has effectively moved into the premium segment, with no more than 4,500 tonnes of salmon roe expected this year against 12,400 tonnes last year, while output of roe from other fish may exceed 60,000 tonnes against 56,400 tonnes in 2025. AKOРТ says federal retailers stock 18–100 caviar SKUs, of which 4–15 are imitation products, typically 10%–15% of the assortment, with natural red caviar accounting for 27%–30% of supply.

The Bank of Russia official rate interface returns the following set for 15 October 2026: USD 83.9497, EUR 93.9229 and CNY 12.5358 roubles (nominal 1 each). Interfax reports that the regulator raised the dollar rate by 8.22 kopecks to 83.9497 and the euro rate by 15.06 kopecks to 93.9229; on the Moscow Exchange the yuan stood at 12.446 roubles at 19:00, down 11.8 kopecks on the previous session. Citing market participants, the agency links the stronger rouble to expectations around the diesel export deal and to a lower probability of a rate cut at the October meeting after the inflation data. The previous set, effective on the coverage day (interface date 14 October 2026), was USD 83.8675, EUR 93.7723, CNY 12.5028.

The State Duma financial market committee recommended passing bill No. 1236943-8 in the first reading; it regulates foreign-exchange operations with digital roubles and sets out the specifics of currency control over them. The bill amends the law on currency regulation and currency control and Article 18 of the law on the Bank of Russia: residents will be able to meet the foreign-currency repatriation requirement by crediting funds to their digital rouble accounts; the same applies to insurance payouts under policies covering non-resident default risk on foreign trade contracts, and to settlements when assigning monetary claims to a factoring agent. The amendments also allow residents to receive digital roubles to secure performance or terminate obligations under foreign trade contracts for which the repatriation requirement has been cancelled. Currency-control agent functions when digital roubles are debited are assigned to an authorised bank that is a platform participant; if no bank responsible for controlling credits is determined, the credit is not made. The CBR board of directors is empowered to define the range of platform users and the cases in which digital roubles may be used as a means of payment in foreign-exchange operations. According to the authors, the law would give participants in foreign economic activity an additional way to settle with foreign partners. If adopted, it enters into force 180 days after official publication; the first reading is scheduled for 20 October, with second-reading amendments due by 19 November. The government backed the bill subject to refinement of the mechanism by which control bodies obtain information on digital rouble accounts and transactions.

Rosstat data: inflation for 6–12 October 2026 was 0.11%, after 0.96% the previous week (29 September–5 October, the "tariff week" following the 1 October utility tariff indexation). Cumulative price growth was 1.01% for the first 12 days of October and 6.1% since the start of the year. Estimating from average daily data for October 2025, the Ministry of Economic Development put annual inflation at 7.22% on 12 October, up from 6.35% at end-September. Among foods, the biggest gains were chicken eggs (+2.4%), vegetable preserves for baby food (+0.7%) and buckwheat (+0.6%), with chicken, fish and frankfurters up 0.5% each; sugar fell 0.5% and rice 0.2%. Among non-foods, smartphone prices rose 1.3%. Petrol and diesel prices were almost unchanged over the week, with only AI-98 petrol up 0.2%; petrol rose in 49 Russian regions (Magadan +8.7% and the Jewish Autonomous Region +8% the most) and fell in 31 (Tyumen -8.1% the most), with Moscow and St Petersburg up 0.1% and 0.4%. The Ministry of Economic Development expects 6.8% inflation for 2026 and a return to the 4% target by end-2027; the Bank of Russia range for year-end is 6%–7%.

According to the Bank of Russia's analytical commentary Monitoring of Enterprises, Russian business price expectations fell to 21 points in October 2026 after rising since July, though the indicator remains above its 2026 second-quarter level. The decline is expected in most industries except electricity, water supply and agriculture; in the first two cases the result reflects the planned indexation of utility tariffs from October 2026. The average expected price increase over the next three months (annualised) eased to 6.4% from 6.6% in September, lowest in agriculture at 2.2%. Interfax adds that the Bank of Russia will publish express data on household inflation expectations on 21 October. The original commentary is at cbr.ru/analytics/dkp/monitoring/1026/.