Russia: The Moscow Stock Exchange reopens this Thursday with restrictions after three weeks paralyzed to stop its collapse | Economy

Russian companies are expected to return to the Moscow Stock Exchange on Thursday four weeks after their listing was suspended due to the economic earthquake caused by the war in Ukraine. The Central Bank of Russia, also a stock market supervisor, has decided to reopen it after being closed since February 28. It will do so with restrictions, and only the shares of the 33 companies it considers “most liquid” will be available. The institution chaired by Elvira Nabiúllina has undertaken this week the difficult task of resuming the activity of some markets hard hit by the sanctions. Until recently, only the trading of currencies and precious metals was allowed, and on Monday he opened his hand to the secondary market of public debt.

This Thursday it will be the turn of the stock market, although with several limitations: it will only last four hours and short sales will be prohibited. That is to say, the operations where the investor considers that the shares will be worth less in the future, so he borrows them, sells them and then recovers them by paying less, taking advantage of the difference. Some of the largest companies in the country will return to the parquet, such as the gas companies Gazprom and Novatek; the oil company Lukoil; and the nation’s leading bank, Sberbank. All of the aforementioned were sanctioned by the United States and the European Union, which came to deactivate the financial entity of the Swift system.

Another of the listed companies that is returning to the market is the flag carrier Aeroflot, hit on several fronts since it has closed European airspace at the same time that the West and China refuse to deliver spare parts for the planes. This Tuesday, the Russian Transport Minister, Vitali Saveliev, raised the dilemma that this and other Russian companies have. “The airlines and the government have to decide what to do. We advocate that they leave the planes, since they are still paying their rent, ”said the senior official after stressing that the firms that own the devices have demanded the return of some 500 planes and their repurchase would cost some 20,000 million dollars. Another of the companies that returns to the market is the aluminum giant Rusal, owned by the oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Although it is not sanctioned, the businessman lukewarmly showed his rejection of the war a few weeks ago.

Putin prevents the resignation of the governor of the Central Bank

The Central Bank has published the results of its first survey of inflation forecasts among the population after the start of the war in Ukraine. According to the survey, Russians expect an average price increase of 18.3% in the next 12 months, although this rate is expected to drop to 8% in the next three years. In the case of companies, they predict a general price increase of 41.9%, with increases of 75% in retail sales, 39.6% in industry, 34.9% in services, and 42.5% in the field. For their part, the experts consulted by the central bank forecast 20% inflation after a year. The objective of the monetary organization is to reduce inflation to 4% in 2024.

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The institution raised interest rates from 9.5% to 20% as soon as the invasion began, and at its monthly meeting last week it decided to keep them that way while awaiting price changes. However, his council warned at the same meeting that Russian industry faces a bottleneck due to the break in the supply chain with the West, and this could have a serious impact on prices in the coming months.

As reported by Bloomberg, the Governor of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiúllina, tried to resign after Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine. However, the Russian president denied that possibility to the head of the organization, whose merits have even been recognized abroad. Last week, Nabiúllina was nominated for a new five-year term at the helm of the bank.