The price of a “special operation” in Ukraine. Online

The Bell continues to conduct online, dedicated to the economic consequences of the "special military operation" in Ukraine, which began on February 24

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This online is complete. Read the continuation here .

18:43 Anatoly Chubais ended up in the intensive care unit of one of the European clinics with Guillain-Barré syndrome, writes Ksenia Sobchak with reference to his wife Avdotya Smirnova. This is a rare disease in which a person's immune system attacks their own peripheral nerves.

17:49 From August 1, Latvia suspends the simplified travel format for Russians living near the border.

14:16 The economy of Saudi Arabia for the second quarter increased by 11.8% in annual terms - the highest rate in 11 years, writes Bloomberg. Oil has become the growth driver. GDP excluding the oil sector added 5.4%, according to preliminary data from the KSA General Department of Statistics. As the economy improved, unemployment fell to its lowest level since 2008.

12:25 Andrey Kigim resigned as head of the FIU. as interim . has been appointed Sergei Chirkov

11:42 Over the past five months, foreign investors have withdrawn $ 38 billion from the markets of developing countries, writes the Financial Times, citing data from the Institute of International Finance. This is the all-time record since 2005. As the newspaper notes, the outflow of funds is due to fears of a global recession and accelerating inflation, the US Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hike and slowing GDP growth in China, and also threatens to exacerbate the growing financial crisis in developing countries.

11:03 Vladimir Putin approved the Naval Doctrine and the Ship Charter of the Navy .

UPD: Among the main security threats in the new maritime doctrine are the "US strategic course for dominance in the world's oceans" and "the advancement of NATO's military infrastructure to the borders of the Russian Federation." Priority areas include the development of aircraft carrier production.

The main thing for the night and morning:

• The headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol attacked a drone, said the Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev. Six people were injured, two in a state of moderate severity. All festive events in honor of the Navy Day in the city have been cancelled. Vladimir Putin is present at the naval parade in Kronstadt.
• Russia officially invited experts from the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate the attack on the colony in Yelenovka, which led to the death of a large number of Ukrainian prisoners of war. It has not yet been possible to visit the camp controlled by the Russian Armed Forces, the corresponding request was denied, the ICRC writes .
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, called on Ukrainians to urgently evacuate from the territory of Donbass. In his evening address, the president pointed out that those who remained could suffer from the actions of the Russian military.
• Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics called on the EU to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and to ban the issuance of tourist visas to Russians. Earlier, Gazprom announced the termination of gas supplies to Latvia, however, according to the Latvian operator Conexus Baltic Grid, gas from Russia still comes in half as much.

Continued online July 31

19:48 Timati announced the acquisition of all assets of the Starbucks coffee chain in Russia. The opening of the first outlets with a new name and logo is scheduled for August.

19:24 OBI completed the sale of the Russian business, reports Vedomosti . At the first stage of the transaction, 40% of the shares in companies associated with the Russian chain of stores will go to the group of investment and construction companies (GISK) Max, and 60% - to businessman Josef Liokumovich (representative of the Austrian group of companies Supernova). GISK Max may later sell its stake to "third parties" - whether it will be Liokumovich is still unknown. The amount of the transaction, according to sources, is symbolic and amounts to 1 euro.

18:51 Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk announced the mandatory evacuation of residents of Donetsk. It is due to the intensification of hostilities and the almost complete absence of electricity and gas supply. It is specified that now 200-220 thousand people remain in the Donetsk region, of which 52 thousand are children.

17:40 The Kremlin is running out of steam in its offensive against Ukraine, says the head of British foreign intelligence Mi-6, Richard Moore. So he wrote after a retweet by the British Ministry of Defense. The day before, the department released a video, which, in particular, said that Russia had lost tens of thousands of soldiers and was forced to use Soviet-era weapons.

16:01 Bloomberg called Oreshkin "the architect of Putin's economic counterattack"

The agency published a material about the presidential assistant for economics, 40-year-old Maxim Oreshkin. Bloomberg sources remind that it was he who came up with the idea of ​​paying for gas in rubles, which, after the start of the war, “allowed Putin to create the impression that he was [successfully] resisting the first onslaught of [Western] sanctions.” Many large European fuel importers were forced to agree to the new scheme and open accounts with Gazprombank, the bank itself being one of the few to avoid being sanctioned.

• After February 24, Oreshkin became a key figure in Vladimir Putin's inner circle, "one of several insiders with Western experience in the financial field" who are now involved in preparing the Kremlin's response, Bloomberg writes, citing its sources.
• The agency claims that Oreshkin came up with the phrase about the "actual default" of the US and the EU on obligations to Russia after freezing part of the Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves (this statement was made by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov , and later repeated by Vladimir Putin) and many other "rhetorical attacks", which became part of presidential speeches. Oreshkin himself compared the American currency with "a drug that the whole world is addicted to."
• A former political lightweight, Oreshkin became Vladimir Putin's right hand man in the economy during the war, writes Bloomberg. He was involved in mitigation plans for the loss of access to the SWIFT system.
• The agency recalls that the official also accompanied the president during a recent trip to Tehran. When asked about Iranian ideas for overcoming sanctions, Oreshkin self-confidently replied that "ours are much better."
• “Russia is not going to abandon the market economy, but rather the opposite,” Oreshkin himself said in response to one of Bloomberg’s questions. “Private initiatives are now especially encouraged, and this is constantly noted by the president in his speeches.”
• A former banker at the Russian division of Societe Generale SA, Oreshkin is using his Western experience to soften the effects of the sanctions. “He is part of a group of officials who have long struggled to find the fine line between creating investor-friendly economic policies and increasing repression of Putin,” says Bloomberg. “The war has made this balance almost impossible: Oreshkin and his colleagues are under sanctions, and their economic policies serve the Kremlin’s war machine.”

14:33 As Russia reduces gas supplies to Europe, its exports to China are growing. Such dynamics could provide "some respite" from the unprecedented rise in energy prices, writes Bloomberg, citing consulting firm Accenture. “As a result, demand for LNG in the PRC will decrease, and prices in the world market will decrease,” said Accenture Managing Director Ogan Kose. According to Accenture, if Russia completely cuts off gas supplies to Europe, prices could rise five times compared to the current level. However, this effect will only last until winter - according to forecasts, gas prices will decrease in 2023, says Kose.

12:25 The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that 32 New Zealand citizens were included in the "stop list" in response to sanctions. The list includes heads of municipal bodies, representatives of law enforcement agencies, journalists, as well as university professors. Entry to Russia for these persons is closed on an indefinite basis.

The main thing for the night and morning:

• Gazprom announced the termination of gas supplies to Latvia as part of the July application. The company explained this by a violation of the conditions for gas withdrawal, there are no other details. On the eve it became known that Latvia resumed the purchase of gas from Russia through an intermediary, the currency of payment is the euro. The supplier's name was not disclosed.
• Russia has asked the US to include another Russian in addition to Viktor Bout, Vadim Krasikov, in the prisoner swap deal, sources told CNN. He is sentenced to life in Germany for the murder of former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, as he considered it a land itch, at the behest of the Russian authorities. In Washington, the request was regarded as "problematic".
• The Red Cross offered its assistance in the evacuation of wounded prisoners of war in Yelenovka, as well as "free donation of medicines, protective equipment and materials for forensic medical examination." Kyiv previously demanded that the UN and the ICRC investigate the deaths of prisoners in Yelenovka, since both organizations were guarantors of the preservation of the life and health of Ukrainian servicemen who surrendered.
• Russian Post acknowledged a partial leak of user data. The company said that one of the contractor's accounts "was compromised", as a result, "a piece of data" fell into the hands of hackers. Banking data did not get into the network and nothing threatens the safety of users, the press service assured.

Continued online July 30

20:50 The Russian version of Blinken's conversation with Lavrov: Lavrov stressed that all the tasks of the "special operation" would be completed, said that the supply of Western weapons "only prolongs the agony of the regime in Kiev", and the Russian army "strictly complies with international law." As for the exchange of prisoners, the Russian side proposed to return to the mode of "quiet diplomacy", the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

20:07 Blinken had a telephone conversation with Lavrov (the first since the start of the war). According to Blinken, they discussed a prisoner exchange, a grain deal and a possible Russian annexation of part of Ukrainian territories - the head of the State Department warned that the United States would not recognize it and could impose new sanctions in this case.

18:48 The United States has imposed sanctions against the pro-government activist Alexander Ionov, a serial scammer on the "foreign agents" media. According to his statements, the Ministry of Justice recognized Meduza and Important Stories as foreign agents. Ionov demanded the same status for The Bell (he was never recognized as a foreign agent).

17:16 Meanwhile, the volume of yuan trading on the Moscow Exchange has reached a record level and on some days exceeds the indicator for the euro-ruble pair, calculated Bloomberg . Over the week, daily trading volumes in the yuan-ruble pair doubled from 33.6 billion rubles on July 20 to 70.5 billion rubles on July 27. In June, the volume of transactions on the yuan-ruble pair amounted to $8 billion, in July this figure rose to $13.9 billion.

17:08 The Central Bank is preparing to cancel exchange trading in the dollar, Forbes found out . According to the publication, the regulator is discussing with foreign exchange market participants how to determine the exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar and the euro if the National Clearing Center and the Moscow Exchange fall under Western sanctions. With such sanctions, foreign exchange trading will be paralyzed and the mechanism that the Central Bank has had since 2014 in case of currency circulation restrictions will turn out to be useless.

“The exchange rate of the dollar will no longer exist, but exports and imports will remain, so you need to understand at what rate to exchange rubles. The Central Bank does not want to take on the function of determining the rate, ”says one of Forbes’ interlocutors. The alternative that the Central Bank is considering is the Russian analogue of Bloomberg, a platform where the currency quotes of the largest banks will flock. It is planned that the rate will be determined on the basis of quotations of 10 largest banks.

16:09 Tinkoff has halved the fee for servicing foreign currency accounts - to 0.5% per month. A fee is charged if you hold amounts over $10,000, Euro, Pounds or Swiss Francs in your account. From the message of the bank it follows that such amounts on accounts in Tinkoff are kept by "slightly less than 3 thousand" clients.

Tinkoff introduced a commission of 1% per month for servicing foreign currency accounts from June 23 (at the same time, at first it was planned that it would be charged from the amount over 1,000 USD, but then the bank raised it to 10,000). And from July 4, Tinkoff Investments began to charge a fee for storing currency on a brokerage account.

15:22 Inflation in the eurozone in July reached a new historical record - 8.9% (in June it was 8.6%). And this, most likely, is not yet the peak of inflation, which means that we should expect another significant increase in the ECB's key rate, writes Reuters.

13:39 On Friday night, a strike was struck on the pre-trial detention center in the village of Yelenovka in the DPR , as a result of which several dozen people died. Members of the Azov battalion were kept in the pre-trial detention center. What is known about it:

• The Russian side accuses the APU of the strike. The SC has already filed a criminal case. Investigators claim that Ukraine used shells from the American HIMARS multiple launch rocket system to shell the detention facility. “As a result, several dozen people died, the exact data on the dead and injured is being specified,” the report says.
• According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in the strike, and another 75 were injured. Eight employees of the pre-trial detention center received injuries of varying severity. The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, spoke of 47 dead. In total, there were 193 people on the territory of the detention center, he said. The headquarters of the territorial defense of the DPR reported 53 victims of the strike.
• The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in turn, accuses Russia of shelling Yelenovka. According to the Ukrainian military, "the armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out targeted artillery shelling of a correctional institution in the village of Yelenovka, Donetsk region, where Ukrainian prisoners were kept, among other things."
• Ukrainian prisoners of war were kept in the pre-trial detention center in Yelenovka, including members of the Azov battalion captured at Azovstal.
• Blaming each other for the attack on the pre-trial detention center, the parties explain the possible causes of the strike in different ways. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the goal was "to intimidate Ukrainian servicemen and prevent their surrender." The Armed Forces of Ukraine, blaming Russia, say that the Russian military thus wanted to "accuse Ukraine of committing 'war crimes', as well as to hide the torture of prisoners."

12:42 Gazprom Shelfproekt, the main beneficiary of which is the youngest son of the Secretary of the Security Council Andrei Patrushev, can become the general contractor of Gazprom at sea. It is reported by "Kommersant" with reference to sources. The company used to be called "Aurora", but was renamed in connection with the "new stage of development" and changed the logo to identical to "Gazprom". In addition to working for Gazprom, Patrushev's company will be able to continue drilling at Novatek's projects, the sources say.

9:27 Arkady Volozh can exchange control in Yandex for the opportunity to bring part of his projects abroad.

Yandex is on the verge of big changes. As it became known to The Bell, as a result of a possible division of the company's assets with its founder Arkady Volozh, control over the Russian Yandex may change: the company may have new shareholders and a management structure. In this case, Volozh will have the opportunity to develop part of its assets abroad independently of the company. The head of the Accounts Chamber, Alexei Kudrin, helps the Yandex founder to implement this plan. Read more here .

8:43 The main thing for the night and morning:

— The American food manufacturer Kraft Heinz has decided to reduce its presence in Russia: according to Kommersant , the company has put up for sale its baby food business, which is valued at 2.5-3 billion rubles. The Heinz-Georgievsk enterprises in the Stavropol Territory and the Ivanovo baby food plant with a total capacity of more than 30 thousand tons of dry, liquid cereals and mashed potatoes per year, as well as the Umnitsa and Sami with a mustache brands are put up for sale. In Kraft Heinz, information about the sale of part of the Russian business was called “market rumors”. In Russia, in addition to baby food factories, the company owns the Petroproduct-Otradnoye enterprise in the Leningrad Region, where it produces ketchups, sauces, and canned foods. The concern does not sell this business.

— Russia may allocate $30.8 billion for foreign projects for the development of railway infrastructure, reports Vedomosti with reference to the presentation of the Ministry of Transport. With this money, it is planned to build three new railway checkpoints across the state border of Russia with neighboring countries, 369 km of tracks in Russia and 3,000 km of railways in Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China.

- Against the backdrop of a mass exodus of foreign top managers, the clothing and footwear retailer Gloria Jeans, on the contrary, attracted a leader from abroad: the former top manager of the Italian fashion group OVS SpA and the American Gap, Ismail Seis, became the new CEO of the company, Kommersant found . out The interlocutors of the publication are sure that the agreements between Gloria Jeans and Says were reached before the start of the “special operation”.

- To the successor of McDonald's in Russia - the network of restaurants "Vkusno - and the point" - they filed claims because of the name, writes Vedomosti . Food and Tochka, a chain of fast food restaurants from Vladivostok, offers the former McDonald's to enter into negotiations on the trademark adjustment until August 8, otherwise the dispute will be resolved in court.

- The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Sergey Lavrov will talk with US Secretary of State Anthony Blicken "when time permits", and "now he has a busy schedule of international contacts." The day before yesterday, Blinken said that he would phone Lavrov "in the coming days". The topic of discussion should be the release of American citizens imprisoned in Russia. According to CNN , the White House offered the Kremlin to exchange Paul Whelan and Britney Griner for Victor Bout, who was sentenced in the US to 25 years for arms dealing.

Continued online July 29th.

18:20 Now it's official - the US economy is falling for the second quarter in a row. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis published the first preliminary estimate of US GDP in the second quarter - it fell by 0.9%. In the first quarter it was minus 1.6%.

Formally, two quarters of falling in a row is a sure sign of a recession. But the American authorities and the Fed are in no hurry to recognize it, and the American central bank, trying to curb inflation, raised the rate for the second time in a row the day before. The US recession, according to Jerome Powell, is not supported by other economic data.

We explain the non-obvious logic of the Fed.

17:15 Estonia stops issuing temporary residence permits and study visas to Russians.

15:26 The US Senate passed a resolution calling on the State Department to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The reason for this was the actions in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Ukraine, which led to "the death of countless innocent men, women and children."

13:24 Roskomnadzor demanded to revoke the registration of mass media from Novaya Gazeta, follows from the court filing cabinet. The appeal was registered on July 26. There are no other details on the card yet.

12:21 The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that negotiations on the exchange of prisoners between Russia and the United States are underway, "at one time the issue was discussed by the presidents" of the two countries. There is no specific result on the exchange of Viktor Bout for Paul Whelan and Britney Griner.

On the eve of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that "in the coming days" will talk with Sergei Lavrov. The topic of discussion will be the release of American citizens imprisoned in Russia. According to CNN , the White House offered the Kremlin to exchange Will and Griner for Booth, who was sentenced in the US to 25 years for arms dealing.

11:21 over the past day , this is the maximum since mid-April. have been detected In Russia , 11,515 coronavirus infections

11:18 WhatsApp fined 18 million rubles for repeated refusal to localize the data of Russians, Snapchat - 1 million rubles.

8:42 The main thing for the night and morning:

- H&M Group, which announced its withdrawal from Russia, is looking for a buyer for the Russian part of the business, learned Kommersant . The assets put up for sale include a portfolio of leasehold rights for 170 stores in 65 Russian cities, a distribution center, as well as 30-week stocks of goods worth $210 million. network on themselves and ensure the supply of the required amount of clothing.

— The Accounts Chamber proposed to the Ministry of Finance to exclude the currencies of countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia, including the euro, pounds and yen, from the NWF asset portfolio. According to the recommendation of the auditors, the Ministry of Finance, with the participation of the Central Bank, needs to analyze the structure of assets by July 29. The ministry will need to make a decision on how to change the structure of the NWF in such a way that there are no assets left in the currencies of countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia, or adjust the government decree that determines the procedure for managing the fund's funds, a representative of the Accounts Chamber explained to Vedomosti .

- State Duma deputies have developed a bill on tourist tax, writes Kommersant . According to the idea of ​​the authors of the initiative, unlike the resort tax (which can be introduced only by the Crimea, Krasnodar, Stavropol and Altai Territories), any region can enter, 18 regions of Russia have already shown interest. Business does not support the initiative: the need to administer fundraising threatens with financial and image losses for hoteliers.

- The Ministry of Finance has not agreed on the allocation of 10 billion rubles in subsidies to airports, reports Vedomosti , citing sources. The project for the allocation of subsidies was prepared jointly by the Ministry of Transport, the Federal Air Transport Agency and relevant associations on behalf of the prime minister. But, according to the source of the publication, the Ministry of Finance studied the reports of airports and could come to the conclusion that so far they have “everything is not so bad”, and put this project on pause.

- Some Samsung smartphones have become unavailable in the regions or they can only be purchased with delivery in a few days, told market participants RBC. According to one of them, due to the lack of goods, retailers are forced to bring goods only at the request of buyers. The main reason for the problems with the assortment is the lack of official supplies from Samsung. Parallel imports have not yet become fully operational and cannot ensure continuity of supply, the sources say.

Continued online 28 July.

21:15 Russia's GDP fell by 4.9% in June, the Economy Ministry announced. The decline in the economy is accelerating - in May it amounted to 4.3%. In general, GDP fell by 4% in the second quarter.

21:02 The Fed predictably sharply - by 0.75 points - raised the key rate. This is the second such increase in a row.

20:33 The Ministry of Finance explained why it wants to force remote employees abroad to pay 30% of personal income tax.

The Ministry of Finance decided that its yesterday's proposal to oblige remote employees of Russian companies to pay personal income tax (for tax non-residents - at a rate of 30%) needs to be clarified. The agency issued a special clarification release , which explained why this is necessary.

“In recent years, the practice of transferring full-time employees of organizations to full or partial remote form of performance of labor duties is gaining more and more popularity. This trend began with the pandemic period and continues now,” writes the Ministry of Finance.

The main goal of the amendments to the Tax Code proposed by the Ministry of Finance is to eliminate the practice of non-payment of personal income tax by such employees if they do not receive tax resident status in any state or receive such status in a low-tax jurisdiction. “This artificially makes working in Russia for Russian companies, both in the office and remotely, less attractive compared to the same work, but remotely outside the country,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

If an individual pays tax on such income in the country of his residence and Russia has an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation with such a country, then the tax calculated on such income in the country of residence can be reduced by the amount of personal income tax paid in Russia, added to the message.

19:15 And here is the data on prices from Rosstat - in the week from July 16 to July 22, deflation in Russia again, prices fell by 0.08%. In annual terms, inflation fell to 15.3%.

19:00 The real disposable income of Russians in the second quarter of 2022 decreased by 0.8% year-on-year (in the first quarter, the drop was 1.2%), Rosstat announced. This is despite double - digit annual inflation . The unscheduled indexation of pensions and the subsistence minimum in June helped mitigate the drop in household income.

17:13 Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Yuri Isaev leaves his post. The former head of the Deposit Insurance Agency, Isaev, joined the Central Bank in January 2022, a month before the start of the war. Meduza's sources (recognized as a foreign agent) this summer claimed that the leadership of the FSB had asked for Isaev's appointment.

17:00 G7 countries expect to impose a ceiling on Russian oil prices by December 5, when EU sanctions prohibiting the import of Russian oil come into full force, a told Reuters senior G7 official . He claims that some Asian countries have also expressed their readiness to join the coalition.

15:59 Volkswagen is looking for a buyer for its plant in Kaluga, writes Vedomosti , citing a source. The interlocutor of the publication calls the Asia Auto company from Kazakhstan, which has a license to produce Volkswagen and Skoda cars, a potential buyer of the asset. This will allow to keep the production of cars of these brands in Kaluga, but already under the control of the Kazakhs, and the German concern to get out of direct ownership of the asset, the source explains. According to him, Volkswagen plans to decide on the sale before the end of the year.

14:02 One of the largest manufacturers of elevators and lifting equipment, Otis, announced that it was selling its Russian business. The amount of the transaction is not called. “Having taken a close look at the global implications of the ongoing crisis and humanitarian tragedy in Eastern Europe, including disruptions to supply chains and tightening regulations… we have entered into an agreement with Ice Development to sell 100% of our stake in the Otis business in Russia,” the company said.

Ice Development is a Russian real estate investment company, the report says. After buying the Russian business of Otis, it plans to resume production at the site in St. Petersburg under a new brand.

13:42 From August, Sberbank will increase the cost of notifications for the first time in 20 years - by 10 rubles. Depending on the type of card, the service will cost 40 or 70 rubles per month. On the eve of VTB notified customers about the increase in the cost of notifications - from 59 to 79 rubles.

12:44 Peskov: Gazprom supplies Europe with as much gas as it is technically possible. He called the linkage of the Nord Stream flow rate to the lifting of sanctions incorrect.

Gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream today fell to 20%. The Kremlin is likely to keep them at a minimum level until the EU lifts sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine, Bloomberg wrote yesterday, citing sources.

12:36 The Philippines decided to refuse to buy 16 Mi-17 military transport helicopters from Russia because of the risk of falling under US sanctions, AP reports citing Philippine officials. We are talking about a contract for 12.7 billion Philippine pesos (about $ 230 million), which was signed last year. In January, the Philippines made an undisclosed advance payment.

11:11 Russian clinics have run out of the Sputnik Light vaccine, writes Kommersant . In most regions, it is no longer available for revaccination. The Ministry of Health suggests giving a booster vaccination as the first component of Sputnik V, claiming that it is identical in composition to Sputnik Light. Meanwhile, the incidence of coronavirus in Russia continues to grow: over the past day, for the first time since April, have been detected . more than 9 thousand cases

10:38 Gas pumping through Nord Stream by 9:00 Moscow time decreased to 1.28 million cubic meters per hour - this is even slightly below 20% of the gas pipeline's capacity, said the operator of the German gas transmission network Gascade. The main line is capable of pumping about 7 million cubic meters per hour, but Gazprom, as planned , has decommissioned another turbine from today, as planned.

Gas prices in Europe continue to rise and have risen by more than $100 since yesterday's close to $2,350.

8:50 Highlights for the night and morning:

- In Russia, they decided to develop the format of 6G networks, bypassing the 5G stage, learned Kommersant . According to the publication, Skoltech and the Radio Institute subordinate to the Ministry of Digital Transformation can receive more than 30 billion rubles for this until 2025. At the same time, commercial networks of the previous generation 5G in Russia have not yet been launched - operators cannot receive the frequencies necessary for this, they are occupied by special services. Mobile operators are skeptical about the prospects of 6G: in their opinion, in the face of a shortage of equipment, it is necessary to maintain the 4G standard, which is still quite enough for subscribers.

- Manufacturer of seasonings Kamis - American McCormick & Co. - may leave the Russian market, reports Kommersant , citing sources. According to one of them, there was no official notice of the departure of Kamis, but supply disruptions "are already being felt." Another source says that Kamis products from Europe are no longer imported to Russia today, stores are selling off leftovers. Market participants believe that the departure of Kamis will not be critical: spices are a competitive segment with good profitability, Russian producers will replace Kamis.

- Gas supplies via Nord Stream from today will amount to 20% of the design capacity, because Gazprom will decommission another turbine. Gas prices in Europe rose to $2,240 per thousand cubic meters the day before.

— The Russians, who did not get to the Crimea and foreign beaches this summer because of the “special operation”, massively went to the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory: the tourist flow there in July turned out to be 10% higher year-on-year, and by the end of August, growth could reach 15–20 % (in Sochi 30%), writes Kommersant . Even the closure of a number of local airports did not interfere: the tourist flow to Anapa and Gelendzhik, which cannot be reached by plane now, has decreased slightly.

- Sales of new smartphones have fallen to a record low in Russia, writes Vedomosti . According to various estimates, in the second quarter they were the lowest over the past 5-10 years. In rubles, sales decreased "to the level of the pandemic 2020."

- Two more large companies have calculated losses due to the curtailment of activities in Russia. Microsoft estimated them at $126 million (this amount included expenses for debts, impaired assets and payment of severance pay to employees). French tire manufacturer Michelin reported a loss of €202 million (slightly more than $204 million). On the eve of McDonald's announced that wrote off $ 1.2 billion due to the sale of Russian business.

- As expected, there were difficulties with the transfer of biometrics collected by banks to the Unified Biometric System (UBS). At the end of May, it became known that the biometrics of customers, which banks collected on their own, were ordered to be transferred to the EBS. Experts immediately called this task "almost impossible." In fact, it turned out to be so, writes Kommersant : it turned out that only about 10% of the data collected by banks correspond to the EBS quality standards. This is only 4–5 million unique casts from several tens of millions of samples. And even their import into the EBS can begin no earlier than in six months, experts believe.

Continued online 27 July.

21:21 The Kremlin is likely to keep gas supplies to Europe at a minimum level until the EU lifts sanctions imposed because of the conflict in Ukraine, Bloomberg writes , citing sources.

“Publicly, Russia claims that technical problems, such as lack of documentation and maintenance of turbines, have forced it to cut supplies in recent weeks,” but in reality, the Kremlin is using disruptions in Nord Stream supplies to “force European leaders to reconsider their painful sanctions and refuse to support Kiev,” the agency’s interlocutors say.

19:14 Mosbirzha from August 8 will open trading for non-residents from "friendly" countries. “From August 8, 2022, the Moscow Exchange plans to provide non-resident clients from countries that are not hostile, as well as non-residents whose ultimate beneficiaries are Russian legal entities or individuals, with the opportunity to make transactions on the stock and derivatives markets,” the exchange said in a statement.

To do this, banks, brokers and management companies will be required to identify clients and provide additional information about them, and the Moscow Exchange will add a new field to the client's questionnaire.

18:41 McDonald's has written off $ 1.2 billion due to the sale of the Russian business, follows from the company's report. Its net profit in April-June amounted to $1.19 billion against $2.22 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share fell to $1.6 from $2.95.

17:39 The Bellingcat investigation group and its Russian partner, The Insider, are recognized as undesirable organizations in Russia (now cooperation with them threatens with criminal liability).

17:14 The government ordered to transfer to Zarubezhneft a 30% share of the Norwegian Equinor in the Kharyaginskoye field and a 20% share of the French Total.

16:26 The IMF has again lowered its global economic growth forecast for this year - now to 3.2% from 3.6%. In April, the fund has already reduced it from 4.4% to 3.6%. The forecast for Russia, on the contrary, has been improved - the decline by the end of 2022 is expected to be at the level of 6% instead of the previous 8.5%. But this is not good enough. First, the forecast for Russia for the next year has been worsened - the IMF predicts a fall of 3.5% instead of 2.3%. Second, the fund writes that "the outlook has deteriorated significantly since April" and "the global economy could soon be on the verge of a recession." How the global recession threatens the Russian economy, we explained here .

15:40 Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder arrived in Moscow not on vacation, but for negotiations on energy, said his wife . With whom exactly he is negotiating, she did not specify. Schroeder's visit to Russia became known on Tuesday morning. The politician himself told reporters that he had come on vacation: “I am here on vacation for a few days. Moscow is a wonderful city." Schroeder settled in a hotel near the headquarters of Rosneft.

14:06 FAS fined Google 2 billion rubles for "abuse of dominance." The reason is the removal and blocking of some Russian YouTube accounts. The company must pay the fine within two months of the entry into force of the decision.

13:47 The Ministry of Finance proposed to oblige employees of Russian companies living abroad to pay taxes in Russia

The Ministry has prepared a new tax bill, and the main thing in it is a clause on the taxation of salaries that Russian organizations pay to employees who have gone abroad. It sounds like this:

“Remunerations paid by domestic employer organizations to remote workers located outside the country are classified as income from Russian sources.”

At first glance, this looks like a complete change in the approach to taxing the labor income of tax non-residents.

Now the source of labor income of non-residents is determined by the place of work, and not by the place of payment of wages. That is, if a person works for a Russian company, but is abroad, his income is not considered to be received from a Russian source and should not be taxed in Russia. If the proposals of the Ministry of Finance are accepted, most likely, you will have to pay taxes on your salary in Russia, and if you are a non-resident, then at a rate of 30%.

If the proposal of the Ministry of Finance becomes the norm, in Russia such income will be withheld 30% of personal income tax for non-residents instead of 0%, The Bell was confirmed by the consulting company B1 (former Russian EY).

We continue to look into the situation and will release a detailed explanation.

13:05 Yandex published financial results for the second quarter of 2022. Main:

• Total quarterly revenue grew by 45% year-on-year to RUB 118 billion;
• Adjusted net profit amounted to 13.1 billion rubles (in Q1 2021 there was a net loss of 14.7 billion);
• In the main segments: Search and Portal's revenue grew by 31%, to 51.2 billion rubles, advertising revenue - by 22%, to 48.4 billion rubles;
• The total search share of Yandex increased by 2.4 p.p., to 62.1%, the share on iOS — by 6.2 p.p., to 48.4%;
• Turnover (GMV) E-commerce in the first half of 2022 increased by 107%, to 123.1 billion rubles;
• The total revenue of the E-commerce segment, taxi, car sharing and food delivery in the second quarter increased by 53%, to 56.4 billion rubles. The segment showed positive EBITDA (2.1 billion rubles compared to minus 9 billion rubles in the same period last year).

12:19 The price of gas in Europe for the first time since March rose to $2,000 per cubic meter (€190 per MWh at the Dutch TTF hub).

11:45 The packaging manufacturer Tetra Pak announced its withdrawal from Russia - the local division will be sold to Russian management and "will continue to work, focusing on the production of packaging material at its plant in the Moscow region."

9:40 am Highlights for the night and morning:

— European countries have agreed on a plan proposed by the European Commission to reduce gas consumption by 15% by the end of March 2023 in the face of an emerging gas war with Russia, reports dpa. The plan will be officially approved today at a meeting of EU energy ministers. The recommendations are still voluntary, but in order for them to become mandatory, will be required a requirement from at least five EU countries or a clear justification of the gas shortage from the European Commission . In both cases, the implementation of the plan will require the approval of a majority of EU members.

- The Ministry of Construction proposed to finance the digitalization of the construction of housing and communal services, including these costs in citizens' payments for heat and water, writes Kommersant . In total, the department needs to find 393 billion rubles until 2030 for the implementation of the program (which includes the installation of smart meters, smart sensors, building control systems, etc.). But it will not be easy to break through the proposal - in some regions this may lead to an increase in the total payment for housing and communal services above inflation.

- The Ministry of Economy has developed amendments that regulate the issuance and circulation of NFC tokens in Russia - they will be given legal status and the rules for protecting token purchasers from re-issuance will be written into the law. Market participants believe that the ministry is behind the times and considers NFTs only as digital art, although they have long played other roles.

— The French satellite operator Eutelsat and the British OneWeb have agreed to merge, in which OneWeb received a $3.4 billion valuation. Eutelsat will absorb OneWeb, and the shareholders of the latter will get 50% of the combined company. The deal should allow the Europeans (the governments of France and the UK are among the shareholders of the companies) to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX, writes Bloomberg.

Continued online July 26.

19:09 While Gazprom is sorting out the documents for the turbine, Nord Stream will operate at 20% capacity. For Europe, this is better than a complete shutdown of the gas pipeline (this would guarantee a catastrophe with gas in winter), but it is still very bad - even the operation of the "SP" at 40% capacity means serious problems, and in cold winters - very serious ones. So far, everything fits into the Kremlin’s logic, which we described in an article for The Bell’s weekly newsletter last Friday: demonstrating a legalist approach (“we fulfill all the obligations that we can, taking into account force majeure created by Europe and Ukraine”), without completely breaking trade relations with Western countries and continuing to earn on gas exports, create the preconditions for an energy crisis in Europe in winter.

18:52 Now the Ministry of Finance has also opposed the Central Bank's proposal to ban the purchase of foreign shares by unqualified investors, reports Frank Media . The Ministry of Finance has its own logic - it is necessary to allow buying securities of companies from "friendly countries" (although the Central Bank does not talk about the risks of the securities themselves, but of the depositories in which they are taken into account).

The press service of the Ministry of The Bell provided the following comment:

“According to the Ministry of Finance, securities issued by issuers from “friendly” jurisdictions should be available to unqualified investors. This will facilitate portfolio diversification opportunities for risk reduction and integration between friendly financial markets. The basis for qualification should be a test of the investor's knowledge and understanding of the risks. In fact, separate testing is needed. An increase in the property qualification, in our opinion, will not allow us to test the understanding of the market.”

18:15 A new blow in the gas war. Gazprom stops one of the two remaining Nord Stream turbines - now the gas pipeline will pump only 33 million cubic meters per day (20% of capacity).

of this possibility warned Vladimir Putin on July 20. At the end of the month, another turbine should be sent for repair - if by that time the turbine, which is now returning from Canada, arrives - “well, two will work. And if it doesn’t come, there will be one — it will be only 30 million cubic meters. m per day,” Putin said. already The turbine from Canada is in Lübeck, Germany, but its shipment to Russia is delayed due to difficulties with paperwork (now on the side of Gazprom ).

17:08 IKEA has resumed its online sale again. When customers go to the site, they still get to the waiting page. The time in the "electronic queue" depends on the number of users on the site and can take a few minutes or more than an hour, the company notes.

16:07 There has been a shortage of fiber optic cable in the world, which is necessary for data centers and 5G, and its prices are rising up to 70%, writes FT. A kilometer of cable has risen in price to $6.3 on average from $3.7 in March 2021. Europe, India and China suffer the most from rising prices. The main reasons are increased demand and rising prices for the main components. Read more about this in our news .

15:49 Lavrov on the Russian strike on the port of Odessa: "There is nothing in the obligations that Russia has assumed, including within the framework of the grain deal, which would prohibit us from continuing a special military operation, destroying military infrastructure and other military targets."

According to the minister, the Odessa grain terminal is located at a considerable distance from military facilities, and Russia did not create any obstacles for the export of grain. According to the Ukrainian side, the blow fell just in that part of the port where the grain is stored, but it survived.

15:12 After Gazprom's announcement, gas prices in Europe accelerated growth to 6% and are approaching $1,800 per thousand cubic meters.

15:01 Gazprom announced that it had received documents from Siemens on turbines for Nord Stream, handed over by the Canadian authorities. The company studied the documents and came to the conclusion that they "do not remove the previously identified risks and raise additional questions." What exactly caused Gazprom questions and what was in the documents is not specified.

The company again asked Siemens for "immediate support in providing the necessary documents and clarifications to resolve the remaining open issues," the press service of Gazprom said.

Last week, after a week and a half of tense waiting, Nord Stream nevertheless resumed operation, but at a capacity of 40% - this will leave Russia leverage for further pressure, allow Gazprom to increase profits against all odds, and create serious problems for Europe in the coming winter. How Europe will survive the winter of the gas war, we analyzed here .

trading in the Japanese yen from August 8 14:16 Moscow Exchange will suspend due to "potential risks and difficulties in making settlements." The restrictions will apply to spot and swap instruments for the Japanese yen-Russian ruble and US dollar-Japanese yen currency pairs in exchange and over-the-counter modes. The yen will also not be accepted as collateral for transactions.

13:43 American exporters are losing income because of the strong dollar, which is at its highest in the last 20 years , writes the Financial Times.

IBM, Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and Philip Morris have already reported falling income due to the exchange rate, the newspaper notes. Apple and Microsoft may join in the near future. IBM may lose $3.5 billion this year due to a stronger dollar, J&J $4 billion from Listerine mouthwash alone, Philip Morris lost $500 million in the second quarter, and Netflix $339 million between April and June.

The strengthening of the dollar against other currencies, including the euro, is facilitated by the Fed's policy aimed at combating the highest inflation in 40 years. Rising interest rates attract foreign investors, and this increases the demand for the dollar.

Adding to the negative on the market (apart from the conflict in Ukraine) is the slowdown in economic growth in Europe and the ongoing lockdowns in China.

12:32 Elon Musk called reports of an affair with Nicole Shanahan, the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, complete nonsense. The Wall Street Journal Earlier sources told that this affair was the reason for the couple's divorce.

“This is complete nonsense. Sergey and I are friends and last night we were together at a party! I only saw Nicole twice in three years, both times with a large group of people. Nothing romantic,” Musk tweeted.

12:21 "Yandex" resumed hiring employees, suspended at the end of February (then it was planned that the suspension would last two weeks). The company currently has about 2 thousand vacancies and new ones will appear in the near future. Most of all employees are required in the teams that are engaged in "Search" and develop advertising technologies of "Yandex".

For the largest Russian IT company, the first months of the “special operation” were not easy: how Yandex ended up on the verge of default, we talked about the departure of its employees abroad and about burnt options here . And about how the war divorced Arkady Volozh with the managers of Yandex - here .

12:18 The Kremlin, two days later, commented on the strike on the port of Odessa: according to Peskov, the purpose of the attack was to destroy military infrastructure, so it should not affect the execution of the grain deal in any way.

10:03 The FSB claims that it disrupted the operation of the Ukrainian military intelligence to hijack combat aircraft, in which the Bulgarian investigative journalist Hristo Grozev allegedly participated. According to the intelligence service, Ukrainian intelligence tried to recruit Russian pilots, promising them money and citizenship in the EU for the hijacking. Grozev, according to the FSB, participated in the transfer of $4,000 from Ukrainian intelligence to a Russian pilot who allegedly agreed to the hijacking.

9:20 am Highlights for the night and morning of July 25:

— Due to parallel imports, more and more laptops and keyboards are delivered to Russia without the Russian layout. According to the estimates of distributors surveyed by Kommersant, the share of such devices will reach 10% by the end of the year. Engraving on the keyboard is applied by manufacturing plants. The layout depends on the country in which this device is planned to be delivered. Parallel import involves the import of devices that were not originally intended for Russia, so they are without Cyrillic. The Ministry of Industry and Trade advised to apply engraving with Russian letters in Russia in special services. The demand for this service has already increased. But market participants note that this may violate the presentation of devices and the terms of the warranty for equipment. We talked about other problems of parallel imports in the electronics market here .

- The Central Bank plans to resume printing ten-ruble notes by the end of the year and is discussing the possibility of returning to the issuance of five-ruble notes, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Sergei Belov told Izvestia. According to him, the cost of the metal has increased significantly, and the technology of issuing paper money has made it possible to make them more durable.

- The authorities will tighten control over the expenses of officials, including the obligation to declare the expenses of school principals and head doctors, as well as their spouses and minor children, RBC learned . Also, civil servants will have to report on loans taken and payments on them.

- Russian analogues of Coca-Cola and Pepsi occupied 5% of the market by the summer, writes Forbes. New drinks under the CoolCola, Fancy and Street analogue brands can be found in a third of the stores of the largest retail chains. But overall retail soft drink sales fell 5.5%. The increase in sugar prices, foreign exchange costs and rising prices for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo affected, Russian soda producers explain.

Continued online The Bell. Read the previous one online here .