Some of the worst utilities outages from last week. In Zabaikalsky krai in Anatamovka which hosts the 103rd armored vehicle reapir plant(БТРЗ) parts of the town have not had heating since December 30th due to multiple breakdowns: zab.ru/news/193505

If you want to track restrictions on flights in and out of Russian airports you go to this telegram channel. Every post announcing a restriction has a linked post when the restriction is lifted. t.me/korenyako

Map of Utilities outages in Russia for the week 29th of December to January 4th. For those who are new here around the Russian holidays authorities work overtime to minimize outages.

Russian Business news 30/December/2025: The Russian government has increased the quota for the export of scrap and ferrous metal waste to 2,2 million tons for 2026. This means they don't expect a recovery of metallurgy in Russia in 2026. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8336038

The Russian Services PMI for December came in at 52,3 after 52,2 showing much healthier services over manufacturing. The manufacturing PMI came in at 48,1 vs 48,3 in November continuing contraction. www.pmi.spglobal.com/Public/Home/... www.pmi.spglobal.com/Public/Home/...

At 34 USD per barrel and 79 rubles per USD the Russian budget will get 5 825 rubles per ton of oil sold vs the 13 943 it will get if oil is 59 USD per barrel as the budget plans and USD is 90 rubles per USD as Russian banks hope for 2026.

The Zabaykalsky krai is reducing benefits it pays to doctors and nurses, pedagogical workers and people working in cultural institutions who have worked in rural areas for at least 10 years and their families from January 1st 2026. zab.ru/news/193213

In December 2025 Russian deliveries of oil to India will be the lowest they have been since 2022 at 1,1 million barrels per day vs 1,8 million in November. In the second week of December deliveries dropped to 712 000 barrels per day but then rose again. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8335994

Russian Business news 29/December/2025: The volume of sales of organized tourist tours in Russia in 2025 decreased by 10,6% after years of growth. For comparison in 2024 the sales of organized tours grew by 8%. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8292620

In Yakutia in 2025 they reduced local public sector by 300 people and over the next few years they will fire another 2000 public sector employees. That's a big number for a region with around a million people. 1sn.ru/v-yakutske-3...

An example of what Russian villages have to deal with when it comes to utilities.

Russian nurses in Amur region en masse are suing their hospital and the local authorities for the reduction of their salaries initiated by the hospital asking them to sign contracts that reduced their total salaries. www.amur.life/news/2025/12...

The Russian Central Bank is repeating what is said a few weeks ago, that to fight inflation the tight monetary policy must be maintained and the reduction of the interest rate must be put on pause for a while. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8335686

A metric that can be used to track the Russian army, in November 2025 5 500 used motorbikes were sold in Russia which is 65% higher than in November 2024. For the period Jan-Nov 2025 the increase is just 8% to 120 300. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8335279

Map of Utilities outages in Russia for the week 22th to the 28th of December.

Russian Business news 26-28/December/2025: Russian inspection of China car tires found an excess of carcinogenic oils. This is so they can levy an eco tariffs on Chinese tires and make it easier for domestic producers to compete. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8317724

I just found a new metric for leaking water pipes in Russia. On a part of the water main in Belgorod the leaks are so bad, beavers made a dam near it. There are however no plans to fully replace the pipe till 2028. bel.ru/news/2025-12...

How's the Russian army doing? I spent an evening comparing horse prices in Rostov region, that's how.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Khusnullin warned that the construction sector will collapse if the volume of issued mortgages in 2026 drops below 4 trillion rubles. For reference in 2025 only 4,1 trillion rubles in mortgages were issued. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8329026

Russian Business news 25/December/2025: In 2025 16 restaurants around Moscow's Patriarch's Ponds closed down. The vacancy rate in the area rose by 5% to 11% and the share of restaurants among the closed establishments is 76% in the area. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8317038

Russian Business news 24/December/2025: The total mortgage debt of Russians in November grew by 1,4% compared to October to 23,3 trillion rubles. Compared to November 2024 it grew by 6,7%. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8316031

The Russian MinFin at the first auction for the day managed to sell 64,577 billion rubles (64 billion 5577 million, European decimal comma)of debt from it only fixed coupon issue for today OFZ PD-26252 at a yield of 14,9%. rusbonds.ru/news/2025122...

Russian official inflation as reported by Rosstat for the period from the 16th to the 22nd of December stood at 0,2%. For December 2025 there's a inflation of 0,31% and inflation for the year so far 5,58%. www.interfax.ru/business/106...

We have a first in a long time Russian industrial output is declining. After industrial output in October 2025 jumped due to one time factors to 3,1% in November 2025 there was a 0,7% decline compared to November 2024.

Russian Business news 23/December/2025: Russian large companies that focus on delivering parcels from outside of Russia are reporting significant delays during the period before the New Year celebrations. The amount of delays are higher than in 2024. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8314733

The cost of transporting Russian oil from the Baltic in the week of December 15th to the 21st dropped for all destinations compared to the prior week. The biggest drop was for Turkey where the decrease was 5-5,1% to 7,7-7,9 USD per barrel. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8315461

The imposed restrictions on mobile internet in Crimea will remain in place until the end of the war according to the Russian imposed authorities in Crimea. Russia and the occupied regions are gradually moving towards a full ban of mobile internet. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8315035

Things look bleak for the Russian budget. As expected Russian oil taxes in December will be over 20% lower than the previously lowest month in 2025. USD value for the calculation was 80,35 rubles. Expect things to be even worse in January.

Russian Business news 20-22/December/2025: For the period Q1-Q3 Russian pawnshops increased their net profit by 54% to 9,6 billion rubles. In Q3 2025 the average loan they gave grew from 18 100 rubles to 21 300 rubles. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8314407

The Russian poultry farm Volzhanin which accounts for 20% of the egg market in the Central Federal District has suspended shipment due to outbreak of virulent avian flu. It may need up to 6 months to institute a quarantine and recover the flock. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8313391

Map of Utilities outages in Russia for the week 15th to the 21st of December.

Here's a brief summary on the most serious outages this week in Russia. The Rostov thermal power plant number 2 operated by Lukoil took 4 days to repair a breakdown. During that time Ukraine also hit utilities in Rostov causing 1 day outage. bloknot-rostov.ru/news/slyusar...

In Russia's troubled Kuzbass they will cut spending on public sector workers by 10% to cover schools debts for electricity, heating and payments to construction companies that reached 8,6 billion rubles. www.mk-kuzbass.ru/social/2025/...

Something I seem to have forgotten to mention in my thread yesterday is that Nabiulina said the Russian Central Bank in 2026 may stop reducing the interest rate for a while. This is not the sign people were expecting from the Central Bank: www.interfax.ru/business/106...

Russian Business news 19/December/2025: Russian automotive company Sollers had a terrible month of November 2025 with sales dropping 25% compared to November 2024 and 22% compared to Octoner 2024 reaching only 909 vehicles. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8312259

Russian Business news 18/December/2025: Russian microfinancing organizations had the highest quarterly net profit in the last 3 years in Q3 2025 which reached 8,59 billion rubles or 67,4% higher than Q2 2025 and 4 times higher than Q3 2024. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8294432

This year again we have some great questions from Russians that Putin will ignore:

Russian Business news 17/December/2025: The average overpayment on mortgages in Russia due to the high interest rate dropped from 470% in November 2024 to 324% in November 2025. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8293783

The Russian Central Bank lowered the interest rate to 16%. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8295948

Russian official inflation as reported by Rosstat for the period from the 9th to the 15th of December stood at 0,05%. For December 2025 there's a inflation of 0,11% and inflation for the year so far 5,37%. www.interfax.ru/business/106...

The Russian MinFin at the first auction for the day managed to sell 26,594 billion rubles (26 billion 594 million, European decimal comma)of debt from it only fixed coupon issue for today OFZ PD-26253 at a yield of 14,61%. rusbonds.ru/news/2025121...

Russian Business news 16/December/2025: The volume of sales of commercial real estate in Moscow via bankruptcy in 2025 auctions rose 4 times to 87,5 billion rubles. The total area sold was 47% higher at 295 400 square meters. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8292664

Thanks to x.com/skateparken for finding this story. I would have only read it at the end of the week when I do my review. It has everything, a heating plant in a coal mining region is out of coal, fired officials and unpaid debts. Please read this thread.

Just a heads up the Russian oil tax for December is looking like it's going to be over 22% lower than the lowest result in 2025. We still need to see the official exchange rate but eyeballing it it looks like 8204 Rubles per ton. Here's the chart for this year:

Russian car maker AvtoVAZ will reduce the number of Ladas it's going to produce in 2025 to 325 000 down from 525 600 in 2024. If the new car market in 2026 reaches 1,6 million they may build 400 000 in 2026. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8293033

Russian Business news 15/December/2025: Russia because it was the only exporter of nitrogen fertilizers not under tariffs by the US managed to increase its share on the US market to 35% of all imports. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8291549

Waiting for Kirill Dmitriev to do a Rob Reiner post.

Map of Utilities outages in Russia for the week 8th to the 14th of December.

Russian Business news 12/December/2025: The EU has approved emergency measures that now freeze the Russian assets held in the EU indefinitely. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8290421

Russian Business news 11/December/2025: or the period Jan-Nov 2025 the sales of luxury cars in Russia rose by 28% to 638 cars. In November 2025 there was a 51% increase to 65 cars with the leading car brand being Bentley with 20 cars. www.kommersant.ru/doc/8272567