The latest survey by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) reveals a slight deterioration in business sentiment during July 2025, with the composite Business Environment Index declining by 1.4 points to 45.8 points. This downward trend reflects growing caution among industrialists and entrepreneurs, driven primarily by weakening demand and ongoing price pressures. While selling prices showed modest improvement, rising to 51.1 points and re-entering positive territory, purchase prices remained depressed at 28.5 points despite nearly half of surveyed firms reporting continued cost increases. The B2B sector remained stagnant, with new orders dropping further to 46.8 points, indicating persistent challenges in securing business.

Logistics performance presented a mixed picture. Although the Logistics Index maintained its positive trend for the third consecutive month at 50.4 points, delivery times worsened significantly, with the indicator falling to 44.1 points. Nearly 14% of companies reported longer shipping delays, up sharply from 6.8% in June. Meanwhile, government-business relations showed volatility, with the B2G Index slipping to 49.2 points, just below the neutral threshold. Financial market sentiment also softened, with the Financial Markets Index dropping to 44.1 points as companies expressed greater concern about their financial positions.

On the investment front, two-thirds of surveyed enterprises maintained their capital expenditure programs, with most reporting adherence to original schedules and budgets. However, nearly 20% were forced to scale back investments, outweighing the 4.5% that increased spending. The labor market demonstrated resilience, with 85% of firms continuing to hire, though a small but notable 7.5% implemented layoffs or reduced working hours. Social programs remained widespread, with 84% of companies offering employee benefits ranging from healthcare support to housing assistance. The vast majority of companies kept social budgets unchanged, signaling stability in corporate welfare commitments despite broader economic headwinds.

The business climate faces challenges from softening demand, supply chain disruptions, and strained foreign partnerships. However, the sustained investment activity and robust employment figures suggest underlying resilience in Russia's industrial sector. The coming months will prove critical in determining whether these stabilizing factors can offset the prevailing negative trends in business sentiment.

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In June 2025, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) released its latest survey on the country’s business climate, revealing a mixed yet cautiously optimistic outlook. The Composite Business Environment Index rebounded to 47.2 points, matching its April level after a 1.8-point monthly increase. While certain sectors demonstrated resilience, others faced persistent challenges, reflecting the complexities of the current economic landscape.

The product market index declined to 44.7 points, marking a 1.1-point drop from the previous month. This downturn was primarily driven by two key factors: a historic low in sales prices (49.3 points, the weakest since July 2020) and a notable decrease in perceived competition levels (61.5 points, down by 6.9 points). However, demand conditions showed modest improvement, with both industry-wide and company-specific demand indicators rising by 2 points. Additionally, companies reported fewer concerns over procurement costs, as the share of negative responses fell by 3.5 percentage points, pushing the corresponding index up to 29.5 points.

The logistics sector remained in positive territory, with the overall index holding steady at 51.4 points. Despite this stability, underlying metrics revealed some strain: average delivery times and inventory levels both dropped by over 2 points, settling at 46.6 and 58.6 points, respectively. Encouragingly, broader perceptions of logistics conditions improved, with the sector sentiment index climbing 3.1 points to 49 points. This shift was attributed to a growing share of respondents reporting logistical improvements—a sign that supply chain bottlenecks may be easing.

The B2B sector saw a slight uptick, with its index rising to 46.1 points (+0.5). However, a concerning development emerged in new orders, which fell into negative territory for the first time in three years (49.3 points, down 2.6 points). This decline coincided with a 5-percentage-point reduction in companies reporting increased order volumes. In contrast, the B2G (business-to-government) index staged a strong recovery, jumping 4.8 points to 51.8. Notably, not a single respondent described government relations as deteriorating—a stark improvement from May’s results.

Financial pressures on businesses appeared to ease slightly, with the financial position index climbing to 44.2 points (up from 41.7 in May). The share of firms reporting worsening conditions dropped from 25% to 20.5%, signaling tentative stabilization. Meanwhile, investment activity remained steady, with over 63% of companies continuing their programs—71.2% of which adhered to original schedules and budgets. Nevertheless, one-fifth of firms reduced investments, underscoring lingering caution.

Employment trends remained robust, with 83.6% of surveyed organizations actively hiring and none reporting layoffs. Companies also maintained strong social commitments: 93.2% ran employee support programs (including bonuses, healthcare, and housing aid), while 76.7% participated in labor market initiatives like retraining and temporary employment schemes. These efforts reflect a corporate emphasis on workforce stability amid economic fluctuations.

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In May 2025, the RSPP conducted another round of survey among industrialists and entrepreneurs, revealing a composite index of 45.4 points, 1.9 points less than the value obtained in the last reporting period. The negative dynamics of the RSPP Index are associated with a sharp decline in demand, deterioration in the B2G sector, and fluctuations in the currency market.

The index of the market of manufactured products dropped by 3.8 points on the scale, with respondents expressing significantly worsening demand than a month ago. The B2B Index rose 0.5 points to 45.6 points, while the Logistics Index moved into the positive assessment zone, gaining 51.8 points (+3.4 points).

The B2G index dropped to 47 points in the reporting period, with all indicators showing a decline, but the dynamics of the index characterizing the relations between Russian business and foreign partners look the worst. The Financial Markets Index fell by 2.8 points to 44.1 points, with a quarter of respondents stating that their companies' financial situation has deteriorated.

In terms of social and investment activity, more than two-thirds of enterprises participated in the survey in May 2025. Investment programs were implemented by more than two-thirds of the enterprises, with 63.6% of companies implementing projects without any changes in the schedule or budget. However, 18.2% of companies reported falling behind schedule, while 4.5% were ahead of schedule.

86.8% of organizations hired employees, and 5.5% used measures to reduce working hours to optimize costs. Social programs for employees were in place in 84.6% of organizations, and programs aimed at supporting other categories of citizens in 59.3% of companies.

Three quarters of organizations kept the budget for social programs unchanged, while 16.7% reported an increase in expenditures and 7.7% of surveyed enterprises reduced the budget. 75.8% of companies participated in the implementation of additional measures to reduce tension in the labor market, with more than half sending employees for internships and 48.4% engaged in advanced training.

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The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs conducted another round of surveys among industrialists and entrepreneurs in April 2025. The value of the Composite Index decreased slightly – by 0.3 points to 47.3 points.

The index of the manufactured products market amounted to 49.6 points, its value increased by 1.9 points over the month.

The "purchase price" indicator dropped by 2.4 points on the scale to 18.8 points.

59.4% of respondents reported that purchase prices continued to rise during the reporting period. The rest of the survey participants chose the answer "the situation has not changed."

The value of the "selling prices" indicator is 62.3 points against the March value of 59.9 points. According to the survey results, 31.9% of companies have raised prices for their products or services. A month ago, less than a quarter of the respondents stated this.

Demand indicators – in the industry and for the products of the companies themselves – rose by 1.2 and 2.3 points on the scale, reaching 49.3 and 50.4 points, respectively.

Demand for products or services increased in 23.2% of companies. The respondents chose negative ratings a little less often – in 21.7% of cases. More than half of the participants (55.1% of enterprises) assessed the demand situation neutrally.

The value of the "level of competition" component of the Index immediately increased by 5.9 points, eventually reaching 67 points (and this is the maximum for the last seven years of the study).

The dynamics of the B2B Index is negative again, its value fell by 0.6 points to 45.1 points.

This is due to the deterioration of the situation with the fulfillment of obligations, both on the part of companies and on the part of counterparties. In the first case, the indicator was 44.2 points, in the second – 36.2 points. Both values decreased by more than 2 points.

73.9% of respondents noted that the situation with the fulfillment of obligations to counterparties remained the same. In 18.8% of companies, there were more outstanding obligations, and only in 7.3% of organizations, on the contrary, their number decreased.

The share of companies that found it more difficult to fulfill their obligations to counterparties than it was in March increased by 7 percentage points.

Almost 30% of the enterprises participating in the survey faced non-fulfillment of obligations on the part of counterparties during the reporting month. The share of such responses added 4 percentage points.

The number of new orders increased in a quarter of companies. 62.3% of respondents chose the option "the situation has not changed". A month ago, participants were less likely to choose a positive answer. Due to the redistribution of ratings, the indicator rose up the scale to 54 points.

The indicator "deadlines for completing current orders" amounted to 46 points (+0.3 points compared to the March value).

The value of the Logistics Index rose to 48.4 points, adding 0.7 points.

The average delivery time remained unchanged, according to the estimates of the majority of respondents – 82.6%. An increase in time spent on delivery was reported by 14.4% of companies. In only 2% of organizations, product delivery began to take less time. Compared to the data obtained in March, respondents were less likely to choose negative assessments. Accordingly, the value of the indicator increased by 2 points to 43.8 points.

The "inventory level" indicator maintains its position in the positive assessment zone, amounting to 56.2 points (+0.7 points).

At the same time, respondents rated the overall state of logistics slightly worse than in the previous reporting period, with the value of this component of the Index falling by 0.4 points to 45.3 points.

The B2G index has been in the positive assessment zone for the second month, its value has added another 1.1 points. As a result, it is equal to 51.4 points.

As in the previous month, this is due to the positive dynamics of indicators characterizing relations with financial institutions and foreign partners.

In the first case, the value of the indicator increased by 1.6 points. 85.5% of respondents settled on a neutral answer, "the nature of relations with banks and financial institutions has not changed." 8.7% of the participants saw an improvement in their relationship, while 5.8% saw a slight deterioration.

For the first time since November 2021, the indicator "relations with foreign partners" has risen on the scale to the boundary mark of 50 points. In the last reporting period, its value was 47.8 points.

88.4% of the respondents chose the neutral answer "the situation has not changed", while the rest of the companies were divided in their opinions – both positive and negative assessments of relations with foreign partners amounted to 5.8% each. A month ago, negative ratings prevailed over positive responses.

There have been no changes in the relationship between business and government, according to 89.9% of companies. 7.2% of the respondents stated an improvement in their relations. 2.9% of respondents indicated negative ratings, and their share increased by 1.9 percentage points.

Due to this redistribution of estimates, the indicator characterizing the dynamics of relations between business and government structures lost 0.5 points.

The value of the Financial Markets Index increased by 0.4 points to 46.9 points.

The financial situation has not changed in 69.6% of the surveyed companies. According to the estimates of a fifth of respondents, it has become worse. Accordingly, a tenth of the companies, on the contrary, managed to strengthen their financial position.

The share of negative ratings remained the same, but the share of companies reporting an improvement increased by 3 percentage points over the month.

Due to this, the indicator added 1 point and amounted to 43.8 points.

The estimates of the foreign exchange market also turned out to be shifted to the neutral and positive zones – the indicator reached the boundary mark of 50 points. The vast majority of respondents – 91.2% of respondents - stated that the situation in the foreign exchange market had not changed during the reporting period. An equal number of survey participants chose negative and positive ratings. Last month, the share of negative ratings was higher than the share of positive responses by 3 percentage points.

The value of the Stock market Index component was 46.7 points (-2.1 points from the value obtained in March).

If in the last reporting period the Business Climate Index immediately rose by 8.2 points on the scale, then in April the pendulum swung in the opposite direction, and the Index value again decreased by 5.7 points to 42.4 points.

More than a quarter of the respondents are confident that the state of the business climate in the country has changed for the worse in a month. The share increased by 7.8 percentage points.

Social and Investment Activity Index in April 2025

Investment programs were implemented by 73.9% of companies in the reporting month.

79.7% of organizations employed employees. 2.9% of enterprises fired employees.

7.2% of companies used measures to reduce working hours to optimize costs.

89.9% of organizations implemented social programs for employees, and 58% of companies implemented programs aimed at supporting other categories of citizens.

If we talk about social programs for employees, they included:

- payment of additional funds to employees that are not provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (the share of the option is 71.4%);

- payment of vouchers for sanatorium treatment and children's holidays (65.1%);

- voluntary health insurance (63.5%);

- providing employees with food (60.3%);

- payment for transportation or delivery to work (57.1%);

- housing programs, including mortgages (34.9%);

- additional pension insurance (17.5%).

Some participants added their own answers to the question about social programs: they conducted programs to support and develop young employees; implemented corporate sports development programs, including organizing sports and cultural events; paid employees for gyms and fitness centers; provided maternity and childhood support, including support for large families; provided compensation to employees to pay for non-governmental preschool institutions; helped veterans and pensioners of enterprises; compensated for medical treatment; They provided additional vacation days; provided support to their employees and mobilized employees; gave gifts to employees' children on holidays and organized children's parties.

 *100% represents the total number of companies that reported implementing social programs for employees. Companies could select multiple responses, so the sum of shares does not equal 100%.

In 77.3% of companies, the budget for social programs has not changed.

15.2% of respondents reported an increase in expenses, and 7.5% of enterprises surveyed had their budgets cut.

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) conducted another round of surveys among industrialists and entrepreneurs in March 2025. The composite Index rose to 47,6 points, up 1,4 points from the previous month.

The Index for the market of manufactured products fell 1,6 points to 47,7. In particular, indicators for demand in the industry and for companies' own products/services, which had returned to the positive assessment zone last month, failed to sustain their position—their values equalized at 48,1 points. Accordingly, the assessment of demand in the industry decreased by 2,4 points, while the assessment of demand for companies' products or services dropped by 4,1 points.

The B2B Index showed negative dynamics, decreasing by 2,3 points to 45,7 points.

New orders showed little change: 65,4% of companies gave neutral responses, one-fifth of surveyed enterprises reported an increase in new orders, and 14,4% of companies saw a decline.

Companies faced greater difficulty in meeting their obligations to counterparties, compared to the previous month: this component of the Index stood at 46,4 points, down from February's 51,1 points. The indicator for "fulfillment of obligations by counterparties" also shifted negatively, dropping by 2,5 points to 38,5 points.

The Logistics Index reached 47,7 points, with a marginal monthly increase of 0,3 points.

Warehouse inventory levels held steady at 72,1% of organizations; one-fifth of enterprises reported an increase, while 8,7% saw a decrease.

The "average delivery time" indicator stood at 41,8 points (+0,5 points). 80,8% of respondents reported no change in delivery times for their companies. For 17,3% of organizations, delivery took longer than in the previous reporting period. Only 1,9% of enterprises managed to deliver products faster than a month ago.

The B2G Index moved into the positive assessment zone with a value of 50,3 points, rising by 1,9 points on the scale.

This growth reflected improvements in two key indicators: the dynamics of business relationships with financial institutions and foreign partners.

The "business-government relations" indicator, in turn, maintained its value at 53,4 points.

The Financial Markets Index stood at 46,5 points, up by 2 points compared to February's results.

The positive dynamics of the Index were attributed to growth in the indicators for "state of stock and currency markets." The former rose by 2,6 points to 48,8 points, while the latter increased by 3,2 points to 47,8 points.

The "financial position of companies" indicator remained unchanged at 42,8 points.

The Business Climate Sentiment Index jumped 8,2 points to 48,1

The share of positive assessments nearly doubled during the reporting period—from 7,6 p.p. to 14,4 p.p.

67,3% of survey participants held a neutral opinion about the state of the business climate in the country.

Social and Investment Activity Index in March 2025

As in the previous reporting period, more than two-thirds of surveyed enterprises were engaged in investment projects.

Among organizations investing in projects, 75,4% implemented their programs without any changes to schedules or budgets. The figure rose 9,3 percentage point, marking a significant change.

14,5% of enterprises fell behind on investment projects, while 2.9% completed them ahead of schedule., while 2,9% were ahead of schedule.

Additionally, 14,5% of companies had to reduce their investment volumes during the reporting period, while only 4,3% of enterprises managed to increase them.

88,5% of companies hired new employees. Only 2,9% of respondents reported layoffs in their organizations. Measures to reduce working hours for cost optimization were implemented by 6,7% of organizations.

88,5% of companies ran employee social programs, with the share increasing by 5 p.p.

Social support for other categories of citizens was provided by 52,9% of companies, a decline of 8 p.p., returning to the level recorded in January's survey round.

*100% represents the total number of companies that reported implementing social programs for employees. Companies could select multiple responses, so the sum of shares does not equal 100%.

In 71% of companies, the budget for social programs remained unchanged.

26,9% of respondents reported increased expenditures, while only 2,2% of surveyed enterprises reduced their budgets.

Approximately 70% of companies took steps to ease labor market pressures. Half of the organizations sent employees for internships and/or invested in advanced training for staff. 28,8% of companies organized temporary employment.

According to 45% of respondents, the business climate deteriorated in 2024. About 28% of the respondents believe that the situation remained unchanged while a similar proportion chose the response «the state of business climate has improved». Over the previous year the share of negative ratings has increased significantly – by 14 percentage points. At the same time companies have become less likely to provide positive responses.

In 2024 companies’ performance was successful, according to 50,5% of respondents. A third selected «stable development» and 16,5% chose «challenging». Compared to 2023, respondents significantly more frequently selected positive evaluations, alongside a decline in the «stable» response category.

Russian companies maintained investment performance levels comparable to 2023. During the reporting period a majority of surveyed enterprises (51,9%) pursued large-scale investment projects. The volume of investments of a third of organizations was not so significant. These findings align with official statistics: fixed capital investments grew by 8.6% year-over-year in January-September 2024. However, about 15% of respondents indicated their companies did not implement investment programs in 2024.

In general, most companies anticipate maintaining their 2023-2024 investments levels in 2025. 85,4% of firms have planned investment programs. Over 50% of surveyed enterprises intend to allocate substantial investment funds. The investment budget of a third of the organizations will not be so significant. About 15% of companies expect no investment activity in 2025.

In the short-term, almost two third of the surveyed enterprises plan to invest in upgrading existing equipment. 41,2% of companies plan production facility retooling.

35,7% have allocated budgets for capital repairs of buildings and structures within a period of one to three years. The plans of 30.7% of companies involve the construction of new buildings and structures.

A quarter of companies want to invest in employee training and about under a fifth of the surveyed organizations (18,6%) intend to direct funds to digitalization projects.

13,6% are pursuing R&D work and innovation projects.

About a tenth of respondents are investing in the introduction of the best available technologies; in energy conservation, in programs to improve the energy efficiency of the enterprise; in intangible assets (patents, licenses, etc.).

The most pressing issue for Russian businesses remains the shortage of qualified personnel, as reported by 70.1% of respondents. 

The second major challenge, highlighted by 62.1%, is the high key interest rate. The relevance of this issue has surged over the past year — in the previous reporting period, it was mentioned significantly less frequently (44.2%). 

Rising tariffs and increasing producer prices were cited by a similar number of survey participants, placing these problems in third place among the main obstacles for businesses in Russia. 

The next two issues were excessively high taxes and the volatility of the ruble exchange rate. Respondents mentioned these significantly less often, with a combined share of 29.1%. The instability of the ruble exchange rate has become a slightly lesser concern compared to 2023, when this issue was noted by 45.9% of businesses. 

A quarter of respondents identified difficulties in conducting foreign trade operations (logistics, settlements, insurance, etc.) as a key problem. In contrast to other issues, the relevance of this challenge has increased significantly — the share of this response rose by approximately 10 percentage points. 

One-fifth of respondents believe that declining demand is limiting the operations of Russian companies. Slightly fewer businesses (17.5%) cited difficulties in accessing credit as a major obstacle. 

13.6% of organizations listed excessive regulatory and supervisory pressure as a key challenge, while around 12% of respondents selected "unfair competition" and "high administrative barriers." 

Approximately one in ten companies complained about an inefficient judicial system, difficulties in connecting to utility, transport, and other infrastructure networks, and underdeveloped infrastructure in general. 

Somewhat less frequently (7.8%), businesses mentioned "excessively high fines for violations, including turnover-based penalties" and "insufficient protection of property and contractual rights." 

The Most Critical Problems Hindering Business Activity
in Russia (2023–2024), %

The survey allowed multiple responses, so the total does not sum to 100%. 
Figures are rounded to whole numbers.
Only responses exceeding 10% in 2023 are included. 

6.3% of surveyed enterprises cited poor-quality public administration as a problem, while 5.3% pointed to corruption in government bodies. 

Fewer than 5% of respondents selected "risks of asset nationalization," "lack of clear national development goals," "inefficient tax administration," and "tightening environmental regulations."