SOVEREIGN ECONOMY: TOP EVENTS OF THE WEEK

Russia will continue its voluntary reduction of deliveries to external markets in September by 300,000 barrels per day. Deputy Prime Minister Novak told the journalists in early July that Russia, as part of efforts to balance the market, will voluntarily cut oil supplies to oil markets by 500,000 barrels per day in August through reduced exports as indicated.

According to materials on the formation and use of additional oil and gas revenues of the federal budget posted on the Ministry of Finance website, pay-outs from the Russian budget to oil companies for the fuel damper in July 2023 amounted to 110.4 billion rubles, compared to 78.6 billion rubles in June. In January-July 2023, damper payments amounted to 653 billion rubles.

The House of Lords has approved a deferment on the interest rates for the nuclear power plant loan for Hungary. The House of Lords voted to ratify the protocol to the agreement on the construction loan for the "Paks-2" nuclear power plant. Hungary is granted a deferment on the accrued interest from March 1, 2022, until the protocol on the loan interest comes into force.

Japan is expanding the ban on exporting automotive technology to Russia starting in August. The export of vehicles with petrol and diesel engines with a capacity of more than 1900 cc to the Russian Federation is prohibited from August 9. The Japanese ban, per the G7 countries' sanctions against Russia, applies to both new and used cars and tires intended for electric and hybrid vehicles.

Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo will close its representative office in Moscow. The bank is still operating in the Russian Federation but will continue to reduce its operations related to Russia. According to Intesa Sanpaolo's presentation on the group's financial results for 2022, it was mentioned that lending in Russia was halved in just six months.