Sovereign Economy: Main Events of the Week

Vladimir Putin spoke at the meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. He said that the Russian economy is acquiring a fundamentally different quality, the country was able to compensate for the closure of Western markets, and positive trends are gaining strength. Putin's optimistic statements sharply contradict the assessments of experts who point to the outflow of Western capital, a collapse in machine building and stagnation in the oil and gas complex.

Global banking repercussions caused world oil prices to plunge to an annual low. The Russian export blend Urals price has dropped almost twofold over the year, to $55 per barrel. From March 2022, Urals had been trading at around $100 per barrel, sometimes reaching a peak of $110.

The American stock exchange Nasdaq announced its decision to delist securities of Russian companies including Yandex, Ozon, Qiwi and HeadHunter. The papers will be excluded from listing on March 24. A direct consequence of delisting is narrowing investor circle, dumping shares by institutional investors, reducing rating and lowering credit limits.

In Russia, machine and equipment production in 2022 fell by almost 45%. Data from the Institute for Comprehensive Strategic Studies (IKSI) show a 44.7% drop in the production of transport vehicles and equipment in Russia last year. This was the driver of industrial production declines in regions with a high share of automotive - Kaluga, Kaliningrad, Tver and Yaroslavl regions.

The Russian business will pay a forced levy of 300 billion rubles. The SPP proposal to replace the levy with the purchase of federal loan bonds was rejected. The one-time levy in the form of a portion of the excess profit for 2021-2022 compared to 2018-2019 (windfall tax) will affect all businesses except the oil and gas sector, coal companies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs).