Russia

Russia's central bank has proposed regulating certain cryptocurrency investments for wealthy individuals, it said on Wednesday, outlining plans for "specially qualified" investors to trade crypto assets, Reuters reported. The bank has gradually softened its strong opposition to cryptocurrencies, backing a law last year that allowed businesses to use cryptocurrencies in international trade, part of efforts to skirt Western sanctions imposed against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

The U.S. Secret Service, working with a coalition of international law enforcement agencies, has taken down and seized the website of Garantex, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange accused of being associated with darknet markets and ransomware hackers, TechCrunch.com reported. On Thursday, the official Garantex website was replaced with a notice saying the exchange’s domain has been seized by the Secret Service following a warrant by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. This is the latest action taken by Western governments against the Moscow-based exchange.

Kremlin officials are dangling the prospect of lucrative investment deals for American energy companies, apparently seeking to convince President Trump that large economic gains could come from siding with Moscow in ending the war in Ukraine and scrapping economic sanctions on Russia, the New York Times reported. There is no doubt that Russia has vast troves of oil and natural gas, but an effort to lure American or other Western energy companies to undertake Russian projects is likely to encounter skepticism, not least because of the companies' recent history in Russia.

Oil refiners in India — eager to keep importing cheap crude from Russia — are working with merchants, shippers and other middlemen to rebuild supply chains as tougher US sanctions come into effect, Bloomberg News reported. Speaking on the sidelines of India’s flagship energy gathering in Delhi, executives said the existing networks were being reconfigured with selling entities, tankers and insurance providers that are not on Washington’s blacklist.

Russia's coal industry is in crisis as mines face bankruptcy against the backdrop of low world prices, it has been reported, according to Newsweek. Business newspaper Kommersant said that the Russian government is trying to tackle the industry's plummeting exports and revenues and that state development corporation VEB.RF is poised to take control of failing assets.

Russian consumer prices grew by 9.52% last year compared to 7.42% in 2023, final statistical data showed on Wednesday, making the 2024 inflation rate the fourth highest in the last 15 years, Reuters reported. Russian consumer price growth exceeded 10% in 2022, the year Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, and during the economic crisis of 2014-15, following the annexation of Crimea. Inflation has become a major headache in Russia's overheated economy, where growth is fuelled by the state's military spending.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the potential bankruptcy or sale of the operator of the completed but never launched Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would amount to "theft," Reuters reported. Lavrov, speaking at a news conference in Moscow, was commenting on the matter after a court in Switzerland extended the deadline for Nord Stream 2 AG, a unit of Russia's Gazprom to restructure its debts to May 9 from Jan. 10. The court also said that Swiss-registered Nord Stream 2 AG had to pay off its debts to small-scale creditors in full within 60 days.

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC will halt natural gas supplies to Moldova starting on Jan. 1 due to an alleged debt impasse amid a state of emergency in the Eastern European nation’s energy sector, Bloomberg News reported. The notification sent to Moldovagaz on Saturday said the company “regularly fails to fulfill its payment obligations under the existing contract, which is a significant breach of its terms,” the Russian gas giant said in statement on Telegram. Gas flows to Moldova will be reduced to zero from 8 a.m. Moscow time on Jan.

The Bank of Russia held its key interest rate at a record-high 21%, surprising most analysts who’d expected policymakers to opt for another big hike to try to tame persistent inflation, Bloomberg News reported. Six of 12 economists had predicted a two percentage-point increase, while two foresaw a hike to 24% and only two saw a hold. Price growth continues to run at more than twice the central bank’s 4% target.