Economy & random Russia posts.

[TsarSamuil]

Greater freedom for businesses - best response to sanctions, Putin says.

RT.com
March 19, 2015 19:08

Making it easier to do business in Russia and inspire entrepreneurship is the best response to the external challenges including Western sanctions, says President Putin.

It is only through a partnership between the state and business that Russia can overcome the unfavorable economic situation and achieve stable growth, the Russian President said at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) conference on Thursday. It is impossible to achieve that without trust, common understanding of the nation’s strategic goals and consideration of each other’s interests, Putin added.

It is necessary to demonstrate economic growth in the country, which can be provided by greater freedom of action for the entrepreneurs. That is the best way to make the Western sanctions completely useless, the President suggests.

While Western countries are aiming to hurt Russia for its independent stance on the peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis they have chosen primarily economic leverage. However, Russia has an internal reserve, including the entrepreneurial potential of Russian citizens, which will help the state not to change its principles.

“I would like to repeat that greater freedom for businesses is the best response to all external challenges and limitations. Therefore, we will continue creating the most favorable conditions for all who are ready to invest in the national economy and industry, into the development of technologies and the creation of jobs,” Putin was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

However, he warned businesses that there can be attempts, preventing the return of capital to Russia from abroad. “The situation is such that alarming information is coming from some countries and we are getting the impression that attempts may be made to prevent the return of capital to Russia,” RBC cited Putin as saying. This, according to the president could be linked to limits on the use of capital that is currently in foreign jurisdictions.

[TsarSamuil]

Vid,
rt.com/business/243129-russian-economy-markets-recovery/

Russian economy revives despite sanctions - media.

RT.com
March 23, 2015 10:34

The Russian economy has seen a notable rebound with businesses recovering despite a year of contraction caused by Western sanctions. Fluctuations in the domestic currency have narrowed, which brought investors back into the market.

Global investors appear to be optimistic about the future of Russian corporations, as the country’s economic performance provides evidence to recovery, says Bloomberg analyst Matthew Winkler in his article.

Those who invested in ruble-denominated government securities this year have already made a profit equivalent to seven percent in dollar terms, while those who invested in government bonds of other developing countries lost more than one percent from January, he says. The holders of corporate bonds gained even more with a 7.3 percent return in 2015, which leads the index for emerging market corporate bonds compiled by Bloomberg.

The 50 Russian stocks in the MICEX are up 11.9 percent this year, which is better than any North American market, and that, according to analysts, shows confidence is starting to return.

Russian companies were more profitable measured by their Ebitda margins (earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization) than the rest of the global MSCI Emerging Market Index. Around 78 percent of enterprises represented in the MICEX index showed a greater increase in sales than their counterparts around the world.

For instance, Novatek OAO, a $22.8 billion independent producer of natural gas in western Siberia, saw its sales increase 19.5 percent, compared with 0.76 percent from the sector globally. Oil major Rosneft with a capitalization of $41 billion and production in western Siberia, Sakhalin, the North Caucasus and the Arctic, reported an 18.26 percent annual sales growth, while its international competitors having shown an increase in revenue of just 0.76 percent.

However, the pace of economic recovery strongly depends on investment demand, according to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. The finance ministry estimates the country’s GDP will fall by roughly three percent in 2015.

At the same time the Russian response to Western sanctions, such as the food embargo, have also proved successful in boosting domestic growth with local consumers preferring homegrown products and services, economist Paul Craig Roberts told RT.

“The sanctions have helped Russian companies, and, more generally, sanctions have helped the overall economy by creating import substitution,” he said adding that in this case he doesn’t see any reasons for the Russian ruble to plunge deeper.

“I don’t think the ruble is unstable for real economic reasons. It was created by the belief that all this money would flow out of Russia and leave Russia. But money doesn’t flow out of countries that have extremely low debt and strong export earnings.”

The ruble, which last year became the world's most volatile currency after the dramatic plunge in oil prices and the imposition of sanctions over Ukraine, is stabilizing. The fluctuations in its value narrowed in 2015 more than any of the other 30 most-traded currencies.

Last week Anton Siluanov said the Russian economy is over the worst and is heading towards recovery with the ruble becoming less dependent on changing oil prices. The finance ministry doesn’t expect any dramatic swings in the ruble’s exchange rate in the short-term.

[TsarSamuil]

Worst over for Russian economy, time to talk success - economists.

RT.com
March 31, 2015 15:35

Economists in Russia and the US agree the worst is over for Russian economy, with Bloomberg changing its tone praising it as an ‘underrated land of opportunity’. Experts agree President Putin’s economic team managed to turn around a pressing environment.

Russia’s economy is recovering from last year’s panic following the slump in oil prices, according to experts.

With the Russian Central Bank’s currency reserves increasing last week for the first time since July, and all of the major economic indicators improving, Western governments should be convinced that economic sanctions have no discernible effect, a Bloomberg View contributor, Leonid Bershidsky said in his article published on March 27.

The managers of the Russian economy, especially at the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry managed to keep Russia’s economy open in a difficult environment, he said.

“We see that the Government has strongly opposed the imposition of any restrictions on the free movement of capital, thus reaffirming the commitment to the course of economic openness,” Aleksandr Prosviryakov, Treasuries & Commodities Manager at PWC, told RT.

Chief economist at BCS Financial Group, Vladimir Tikhomirov agreed, telling RT by phone that the government managed to keep the economy going despite all the risks, including currency risk.

Russia held $131.8 billion of US debt in 2014, according to Bloomberg. While reserves as a whole dropped 23.9 percent in 2014, the holdings of US debt fell 37.6 percent, to $82.2 billion, as Russia started cutting its holdings of the US currency amid the sanctions standoff.

The Russian ruble has been performing well lately; it gained 1.5 percent against the dollar last week in its best winning streak since mid-2013. Moreover, oil has played a much less prominent role in the ruble’s exchange rate in the first three months of 2015. Last year the ruble closely mirrored every action of oil prices - with the oil benchmark losing 50 percent of its value in the last 6 months of 2014, the ruble lost about 44 percent. Now the ruble is doing better than Brent crude.

The Central Bank decided to start easing its benchmark interest rate, cutting the rate from 17 percent to 14 percent. This helped Russia to become an attractive carry trade destination, Bloomberg economists suggest.

Russia is now one of the most attractive countries in terms of risk/return ratio, Prosviryakov said, adding that there was a significant inflow of foreign investment to the Russian market in the last few weeks. He believes the trend will continue.

Global investors also appear to be optimistic about the future of Russian corporations as the country’s economic performance provides evidence to recovery. Around 78 percent of enterprises represented in the MICEX index showed a greater increase in sales than their counterparts around the world.

The growth of quotations for the main Russian financial assets suggests that interest towards Russia is gaining momentum, including from international investors, according to Prosviryakov.

Meanwhile, the Russian government’s forecasts point to a full-year contraction in gross domestic product of about 3 percent in 2015. Bloomberg economists expect a 4 percent drop, while Goldman Sachs predicts a decline of 2.7 percent. The Russian economy will shrink 3-4 percent according to Vladimir Tikhomirov’s forecasts.

Sanctions and restrictions

Russia remains a major market economy that cannot be “derailed by a few timid restrictions,” the Bloomberg analyst wrote in his article, adding that Russia has been named one of the top markets for equity performance this year, along with the US, China and India.

Russian economists say Western sanctions had a double effect on the country’s economy. Restrictions imposed by some trading partners, on the one hand, hampered the business relationship between the companies in these countries with their Russian counterparts, but on the other hand, they have opened up new opportunities for friendly companies, Prosviryakov told RT. Meanwhile, Tikhomirov suggests that Russia’s food embargo also caused problems for the economy with the following wave of inflation.

New business opportunities

Russia has a lot of new business opportunities with different countries that are now mostly coming from Asia. Moscow and Beijing plan to extend their strategic partnership in finance, aviation and space, as well as improve trade and economic cooperation. The two countries decided to switch to local currencies in trading settlements and also to create a joint rating agency. Russia and China have been boosting cooperation in various fields, including the energy sector in which the countries signed a huge $400 billion gas deal.

Moscow is also looking forward to trade in national currencies with Turkey. The countries are working on completion of the Turkish Stream pipeline which is to deliver 15.75 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Turkey, and another potential 47 bcm to Europe via Greece.

Next week Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is visiting Moscow to hold talks as Russia and Greece want to boost cooperation and strengthen ties.

[TsarSamuil]

Domestic payment cards to have 50% of Russian market by 2018.

RT.com
April 08, 2015 15:31

The number of domestic payment cards in the Russian market could be hundreds of thousands by 2018, which is more than 50 percent of the market, said the head of the National System of Payment Cards (NSPC) Vladimir Komlev.

"We expect that in 2018 the card will represent a significant share of the Russian payments market. In my understanding, this certainly means that not less than 50-60 percent of the Russian card market will have the logo of NSPC," said Komlev. The number of national cards in Russia will amount to "hundreds of thousands” in 2016, he added.

Other international payment systems such as CUP, JCB and American Express will be transferred to the NSPC in the near future.

"We are at the final stage of verifying the terms, I think it will happen in the near future," he said.

The Japanese JCB payment system says it is ready to start cooperating with NSPC by the end of 2015. The company estimated tens of thousands of its cards could be in use in Russia in 2015. The largest Russian banks, including Gazprombank, Uralsib and VTB 24 are also increasing the issuing of ChinaUnion Pay cards.

Russia has already issued 227 million NSPC cards, said the Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia Georgiy Luntovsky, according to TASS. He also said the CBR expects the company to become self-sufficient by the end of 2015. The system expects to conclude agreements with 10 Russian banks on issuing cards by December.

Russian companies and banks have showed an interest in to acquiring shares in NSPC from the Central Bank, he said.

The law prohibits the sale of NSPC shares for 2 years, as CBR is expected to raise the company's market value first.

Currently Visa and MasterCard account for 90 percent of the cards issued in the country.

In March 2014 both payment systems suspended their service of a number of Russian banks (SMP Bank, InvestCapitalBank, Rossiya and Sobinbank) as part of Western sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine. After that, Russia adopted a law establishing the National System of Payment Cards under the control of the Central Bank of Russia.

[TsarSamuil]

the West sucks!

Ruble 'miracle' pushes 2015 gains to 15%.

RT.com
April 10, 2015 10:37

The Russian ruble continues its scorching ascent, improving 3% against the dollar and nearly 4% versus the euro, the best performance in over four months. The currency, on of the worst performers in 2014, is now the best in 2015.

The US dollar lost nearly 3 percent against the ruble, trading at 50.2902 at 1:04pm in Moscow on Friday. The euro, which has also faced tremendous downward pressure from the €1.14 trillion QE package, slipped four percent, hitting a low of 53.3804 at 1:04pm. Against the pound, the ruble strengthened to 74.2014 at the time of publication.

The currency, the worst performer in 2014, is now the best in 2015. The ruble has recovered 16 percent in 2015, and more than 55 percent since December 16, dubbed ‘Black Tuesday’, when the ruble bottomed out against the dollar at nearly 80 rubles.

“The ruble remains fundamentally undervalued, there is a lot of momentum out there in terms of investor appetite for yield and risk, and that being the case, I think that ruble appreciation in the near term at least has some way to go, I think we could see another 10-15 percent,” Michael Ingram, a market analyst at BGC partners, told RT.

The massive upswing has shocked many analysts, but most agreed the ruble has for the most part shaken off its crude curse, or being intrinsically linked to oil prices.

“We maintain our view that the ruble’s outstanding performance in recent weeks is largely unrelated to oil dynamics, and has actually been driven by international accounts that were closing USD/RUB longs,” VTB Capital analysts wrote in a note Friday.

In the last month alone, the ruble has appreciated by more than 20 percent. In the week that ended April 3, the Russian Central Bank spent $5.5 billion propping up the ruble.

On Thursday, the ruble reached the 52 mark against the dollar at the close of business.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov agrees that Russia’s over-dependence on oil is over. He told Bloomberg:"The dutch disease is over. The ruble is no longer overvalued in real terms, something that was caused by the excessive use of volatile oil and gas revenues.”

The ruble has been slowly finding its equilibrium after the Central Bank of Russia began to cut interest rates in 2015 after a surprise hike to 17 percent in December when the currency crisis hit. The main lending rate is now back down to 14 percent.

[TsarSamuil]

Ruble passes 50 against USD for 1st time since November.

RT.com
April 15, 2015 20:37

The Russian currency’s upward trend has achieved a psychological victory Wednesday as the ruble traded at 49.90 against the US dollar on the Moscow exchange.

This is the first time the currency, named the worst performer in 2014 and the best in 2015, went as high since November 28. On Tuesday the Russian currency closed at 50.89 against the US dollar on the Moscow Exchange.

As for the euro, it went as down to 52.96 rubles Wednesday - 1.21 rubles less than the previous day, when the EU’s currency sold at 54.17 at the close of Tuesday trading in Moscow.

The ruble has recovered 16 percent in 2015, and more than 55 percent since December 16, dubbed ‘Black Tuesday’, when the ruble bottomed out against the dollar at nearly 80 rubles.

“The ruble remains fundamentally undervalued, there is a lot of momentum out there in terms of investor appetite for yield and risk, and that being the case, I think that ruble appreciation in the near term at least has some way to go, I think we could see another 10-15 percent,” Michael Ingram, a market analyst at BGC partners, told RT.

Growing oil prices largely helped the Russian currency Wednesday higher.

The US Energy Information Administration said the country has increased its oil inventory levels adding 1.3 million barrels for the week ended April 10. The gain was well below the consensus 3.5 million barrel uptick forecast by analysts and signaled that the US supply was falling.

This sent Brent futures for May delivery 5.97% higher to $62.35 for barrel. WTI’s May futures also climbed to $56.09 per barrel, up $2.80 on the day.

However, most experts have lately been acknowledging that the ruble was becoming less dependent on the oil prices. Investor appetite for Russia’s treasury bonds, known as OFZs, has been a strong driver of the ruble’s surge.

“Interest rates on ruble are extremely attractive - you have double digit returns. It comes in an environment when the Swiss issued a ten-year bond at a negative interest rate,” Ingram said.

A rush for Russian bonds is believed to remain in place till the end of April, when the Central Bank of Russia is expected to cut the key rate by another 100-200 basis points from the current 14%.

[TsarSamuil]

Ruble now ‘excessively’ strong - Russian Finance Minister.

RT.com
April 24, 2015 15:17

The Russian ruble has strengthened to a point where it is actually too strong, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday during a lecture in St. Petersburg.

“What happened was expected: the volume of gold reserves stabilized, then the ruble started stabilizing and has now strengthened. We believe that it has strengthened excessively,” Siluanov said at a lecture in St Petersburg.

On Friday, the ruble gained 1.22 percent against the dollar, trading at 51.37 at 5:00pm in Moscow. After gaining a record 15 percent in the first three months of 2015, the ruble has begun to weaken, which the Central Bank sees as a good sign. The regulator is trying to reverse the gains the currency picked up this year. However, a stronger ruble could pose problems for exporters who benefit from a weaker currency. At stake is also Russia’s project of import substitution; as the ruble gets stronger customers have more purchasing power to buy foreign goods.

The rapid rise has been spurred by higher oil prices as well as more solid internal economic factors in Russia, such as demand for rubles to buy attractive Russian sovereign debt and the ceasefire in Ukraine. It is the world’s best performing currency of 2015 so far, according to Bloomberg.

In 2014, the currency lost 46 percent of its value, hitting an all-time low of 80 against the US dollar on December 16. The ruble nosedive was in tandem with oil prices, as well as panic that sanctions and low oil prices would negatively affect the Russian economy.

At the same lecture on Friday, the Finance Minister spoke on Russia’s strengthening economic relationship with China, including boosting trade as well as the joint project to develop a route to speed up trade, dubbed the new Silk Road.

Inflation for 2015 is forecast to be 12.2 percent, according to the Finance Ministry.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia’s MPs give final nod to capital amnesty.

RT.com
May 22, 2015 15:32

Russia’s Duma has adopted the final reading of the capital amnesty legislation which is expected to curb the outflow of money from Russia, estimated at $2 trillion in recent years.

The bill was adopted Friday with 344 MPs voting for that and 81 voting against at the final reading.

After President Vladimir Putin signs it into law, Russians will be able to bring their undeclared capital back from abroad without any criminal, administrative and tax penalties. It only applies to violations that took place before January 1, 2015, RIA reports.

Andrey Makarov, the head of the budget and taxes committee at the State Duma, said the new legislation is a chance to “turn the offshore page of the economy and start living from scratch not thinking that either racketeers or law enforcement will come after you.”

Putin first proposed a total capital amnesty in December last year.

[TsarSamuil]

rt.com/files/news/3f/e6/10/00/union-pay_.png

1st national payment card to be launched in Dec – Russian Central Bank.

RT.com
May 25, 2015 11:20

Russia’s national payment card will come into operation by the end of the year, said Central Bank Deputy Chairman Olga Skorobogatova. It’s to ensure smooth electronic transactions in Russia hit by Western sanctions in 2014.

The card will also operate abroad within a year, she said.

“We plan that the national payment card will work in co-branding with four payment systems - Chinese UnionPay, Japan’s JCB and with international payment cards Visa and MasterCard,” Skorobogatova was cited as saying. She added that negotiations are underway with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Community, which are discussing options for cooperation of national payment systems.

The first nationwide payment card is aimed to protect Russian cardholders and provide with constant payment transactions within the country. Outside the country it will be served by international systems, Skorobogatova said.

Some 210 million plastic bank cards have been already issued in Russia, far exceeding the population. By 2018, domestic cards will take 50-60 percent on the Russian market, according to the head of National Card Payment system Vladimir Komlev.

Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law to establish national payment card system (NPCS) after both Visa and MasterCard stopped servicing a number of Russian banks which came under US sanctions regarding Moscow’s position over the Ukraine crisis. Russian authorities also decided to establish a national payment card which would not operate only internally, but also abroad.

Visa and MasterCard later signed an agreement to carry out card transactions via the NPCS processing center and settling through the Bank of Russia.

Visa and MasterCard currently dominate the Russian market. In 2014, Visa’s market share in Russia reached 60 percent, whereas MasterCard’s was 35 percent.

[TsarSamuil]

Record $6bn run on Russia’s biggest bank was planned provocation – chairman.

RT.com
May 28, 2015 12:55

The December depositors’ panic that resulted in about $6 billion withdrawal was provoked to destabilize the financial situation in the bank and the whole country, says Herman Gref, chairman and CEO of Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank.

“Unfortunately, we could not avoid the panic. You saw what happened. But I can only say this: first, the attack was coordinated, thousands of sms-messages were sent in each region, including a large number of mailings done from foreign websites,” Grefsaid in an interview to Vedomosti published Wednesday, commenting on the biggest withdrawal of funds in Russian history.

“The target was to destabilize the country's largest bank and financial situation in the country,” he added.

On December 18, Russia’s Sberbank suffered a massive information attack, when people received a text message saying the lender had problems giving out deposits. The same information was transmitted via numerous forums on the internet.

Gref refused to give exact figures, but said that even though 300 billion rubles (about US$6 billion) is not a precise number, it is close to the total sum that citizens withdrew on December 18.

The outflow was historical, we have never seen anything like that happen, said Gref.

An investigation into Sberbank’s security service is in progress and has already paid dividends.

“I would not like to disclose the results. But we do have specific sites and IP-addresses these mailings were sent from, we even know who these addresses belong to. Not all of them are within our reach. But there is no doubt it was a well-planned provocation,” said Gref.

The biggest bank’s withdrawal in Russian history took place two days after December 16, so-called Black Tuesday, when the ruble hit a record low against hard currencies, trading 99.5 against the euro, and at 79 to the US dollar that day.

A drop in oil prices and US-led sanctions pushed ruble to a 55 percent fall against dollar in 2014.

This year has seen a sharp strengthening of Russian national currency.It has been acknowledged the world’s best performing currency in 2015, but this week the ruble has retreated, trading at 52.4 against the dollar and 57 to the euro Thursday at 3pm MSK on Moscow Exchange.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia: Huge industrial trade fair 'Innoprom' opens in Yekaterinburg.

Ruptly TV
Jul 7, 2015



One of the world’s largest industrial exhibitions ‘Innoprom’ opened in Yekaterinburg on Tuesday.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia overtakes China as most attractive BRICS country for investment - Bloomberg.

RT.com
20 Jul, 2015 11:13

The Russian market has replaced China to become the most attractive BRICS country for investors in 2015, according to Bloomberg. Pricier oil that has rebounded from a six-year low and easing political risks make it the best BRICS investment bet.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg say Russian shares are undervalued, by up to a half compared with other BRICS countries. Russian shares can be more profitable if the political risks continue to reduce.

One of the two key Russian indices – a ruble denominated MICEX – trades at 5.9 times the projected earnings of its members. For example, Brazil’s Ibovespa, Sao Paulo Stock Exchange Index, shows 12.6 multiples, being the second cheapest in the BRICS. China, India and South Africa are above 15.

“Our models are telling us to buy Russia. There is a very strong turnaround potential. It’s an increasingly difficult call to get right because of politics. I’d be happy to pull the trigger in the next two to three months,” Tim Love, a London-based investment manager at GAM told Bloomberg. GAM’s assets are estimated at $130 billion.

Bloomberg says that in nominal terms, the MICEX has increased by 18 percent in 2015, 4 percentage points less than the increase in the Shanghai Composite Index.However, a record decline in the volatility of the Russian market, along with the increased price fluctuations in China allows profit from investments in Russia and China, with a coefficient of 1 and 0.6 points respectively.

The situation has dramatically changed in 2015, says Bloomberg. While the Chinese markets have lost about $4 trillion, or 30 percent in value in June-July, oil prices have stabilized at above $55 per barrel and the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has settled.

As a result, “a measure of expected price swings, as signaled by options prices, has more than halved to 28 percent, the steepest drop since at least 2006, the earliest date records go back to,” says Maria Levitov, the author of the column.

This is a big contrast to December, when Russian stocks lost almost 9 percent and the ruble hit a record low, making the central bank raise annual interest rates to 17 percent, the highest in more than 10 years.

Since then, the central bank has decreased the rate several times, fixing it at 11.5 percent from June 16.

In April Bloomberg called the Russian ruble the world’s best performing currency of 2015. At its peak it was trading at about 49 to the dollar, but has seen a 13 percent downturn since then.

OPEC’s June decision not to cut crude output is one of the key factors. The Russian Minister of Economic Development Aleksey Ulyukayev says the ruble’s weakness due to low crude prices will be temporary, and an exchange rate of 55 to the dollar, plus or minus 2-3 rubles, is the currency’s natural level.

[TsarSamuil]

Putin wants to ax dollar from Russian trade.

RT.com
28 Oct, 2015 10:38

Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted the government for turning a blind eye on US dollar payments in the domestic oil trade.

"I would like to mention one crucial issue in the development of the energy industry, and the economy as a whole. It is a question of finally stopping the use of foreign currency in internal trade,” said Putin at the fuel and energy presidential commission on Tuesday.

Putin posed the question to the Russian Finance Minister.

“Mr. Siluanov, aren’t settlements in foreign currencies prohibited by [Russian] law? And what do we have in practice? Fees for shipment of oil products and crude oil in the Russian ports of Novorossiisk, Taman, Ust-Luga, Kozmino, Primorsk and others – are either directly priced in US dollars, or denominated in US dollars on online trading systems, practically in real time,” asked the President.

“This is, of course, unacceptable. It directly contradicts current legislation. I don't understand what the regulatory authorities are looking at,” Putin added.

Putin also stressed the importance of not using the US dollar in international trade, a goal that has been on the Kremlin's agenda since the deterioration of relations with the US over Ukraine.

"We need to seriously consider strengthening the role of the ruble in settlements; this also includes Russian fuel and energy products. We also need greater use of national currencies in transactions with the countries which are our active trading partners,” the President added.

[TsarSamuil]

Russian manufacturing resurges in October.

RT.com
2 Nov, 2015 15:45

Russia's factory activity expanded in October, growing for the first time in 11 months thanks to higher domestic demand, a Markit report showed Monday.

The Purchasing Managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector rose to 50.2 from 49.1 the previous month, edging above the 50.0 mark that separates expansion from contraction.

"Domestic demand is the principal driver of the expansion, with total new orders rising at the best rate for nearly a year," said Markit's senior economist Paul Smith.

"That's in spite of the sharpest fall in new export orders for three months."

New orders rose for the second month running, with the related subindex rising to 51.6 - the fastest growth rate since November 2014. New export orders fell in October, with roughly a quarter of manufacturers registering less business from abroad.

New business from foreign clients has declined in every survey period since September 2013, the report showed.

"There were also some positive developments for the sector on the price front, with rates of inflation for both inputs and outputs down markedly compared with September," said Smith.

Consumer price inflation showed signs of easing last month, with the Economy Ministry expecting inflation in October to match the September level of 0.6 percent and down in annual terms.

[TsarSamuil]

Sanctions Against Russia Not Working – French Senator.

Sputnik
EUROPE 17:26 12.11.2015

Sanctions against Russia are not working, are counterproductive and have to go, a prominent French lawmaker stated on Thursday.

“The logic of sanctions is no longer working today and we need to make Brussels to gradually consign them to history. We all know that sanctions are often counterproductive and Iran is a prime example of this,” Senator Yves Pozzo di Borgo wrote in a message to the participants of a conference on Franco-Russian relations that opened in Paris on Thursday.

Admitting the difference existing between the EU and Russia, including on the situation in eastern Ukraine, Pozzo di Borgo said he just couldn’t understand why the EU’s only reaction to the Ukrainian crisis was to introduce financial sanctions against Russia, which primarily backfired against European companies willing to do business with Russia.

“What we need now is not sanctions but across-the-board strategic partnership with Russia,” the Senator emphasized.

This opinion was readily echoed by Senator Jean Bizet, who said that a multipolar world was “unthinkable” without Russia.