The business sector in Russia is facing a decline in revenue, and the economy is “not just slowing down, but is already in decline”, leading to loan defaults and putting pressure on the banking system. The statement was made at a risk forum by Mihail Matovnikov, Senior Executive Director of Sberbank, reports Reuters.
According to this, the main challenges for the economy are the lack of external demand for the products of many sectors and the prolonged period of high interest rates, maintained by the Central Bank of Russia to temper inflation.
As a result, in 2025, Russia’s GDP growth slowed down fourfold, to 1%, and at the beginning of 2026, the economy went into negative — with a contraction of 1.8% in the January-February period.
Nominal revenues have fallen for many companies, however, due to the labor shortage, they are forced to raise wages. At the same time, debt service costs have doubled, Matovnikov pointed out.
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