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The July 2026 survey round conducted by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) reveals a sustained negative trend across most indicators over the past three months. The Composite Business Climate Index falls by a further 1.4 points to 42.4 points, marking a continued deterioration in business sentiment.
Product Market and Pricing Trends
The Product Market Index declines sharply by 2.5 points to 44.0 points. Procurement price pressures intensify, with 52.3% of respondents reporting an increase in procurement costs, up from 45% in the previous month. As a result, the procurement price indicator loses 6.8 points. Demand dynamics present a mixed picture: sectoral demand improves by 2.3 points to 45.3 points, while demand for companies’ own products or services declines by 2.1 points to 42.7 points. The share of companies reporting lower demand reaches 24.4% for sectoral demand and 30.2% for company-specific demand. The competition indicator falls by 4.7 points to 56.1 points, as the share of companies reporting increased competition drops from 23% in June to just 10.5% in July, with most assessments shifting to the neutral category.
B2B Index
The B2B Index declines to 45.9 points from 47.9 points in June. The new orders indicator exits positive territory, where it had remained from April through June, falling by 3 points to 48.8 points. Positive assessments no longer outweigh negative ones, reversing the trend observed in previous months. Order fulfillment timelines worsen considerably, with the corresponding indicator dropping by 5.2 points to 46.8 points. The share of companies able to reduce production lead times plummets from 9% to just 1.7%, suggesting that resources for accelerating production have been exhausted. The indicator for outstanding obligations to counterparties edges down by 0.6 points to 47.7 points.
Logistics Index
The Logistics Index experiences a substantial decline, falling by 3.8 points to 44.0 points. This negative trend is likely attributable to unplanned capacity outages at several of the country’s largest oil refineries, which have created fuel shortages and disrupted logistics chains. Both the overall logistics conditions indicator and the average delivery time indicator lose 4.4 points each, settling at 40.7 points and 40.4 points, respectively. While the inventory levels component remains in positive territory, it too declines from 53.8 points to 50.9 points.
B2G Index
The B2G Index rises by 1.9 points to 48.6 points, recovering some ground after recent declines. Relations with banks and financial institutions, which had reached a one-and-a-half-year low of 45.0 points in June, rebound to 48.5 points, matching the May reading. The share of negative assessments in this category halves from 14% to 7%, with more companies opting for the neutral response. Relations with government authorities remain unchanged at 49.7 points, while relations with foreign partners improve by 2.4 points to 47.7 points, as the share of negative assessments falls by 7.2 percentage points in favor of neutral responses; 91.9% of respondents report no change in this area.
Financial Markets Index
The Financial Markets Index remains virtually flat at 40.7 points, down just 0.1 points from June, though this represents the lowest level recorded in the past one and a half years of the survey. The financial position of companies worsens slightly, with the indicator falling by 0.8 points to 39.0 points as the balance of assessments shifts modestly toward the negative side. The stock market indicator drops by 2.4 points to 40.1 points, and notably, no respondent reports a positive assessment of stock market dynamics in July, compared with a 3% share of positive responses in June. In contrast, the currency market indicator improves by 2.7 points to 43.0 points, as the share of negative assessments declines by 5 percentage points in favor of neutral responses.
Personal Assessments Index
The Personal Assessments Index falls by a further 2.7 points to 31.1 points. The share of respondents reporting a deterioration in the business climate over the month rises by 3.4 percentage points to 38.4%, underscoring deepening pessimism among business leaders.
Social and Investment Activity
Investment activity is reported by 70.9% of surveyed organizations, a decline of 6.1 percentage points from the previous month. Among these, 63.9% are proceeding without changes to schedules or budgets, while 29.5% report delays, and 21.3% have been forced to reduce their investment budgets. Only approximately 5% of companies succeed in increasing investment volumes, and just 1.6% are operating ahead of schedule, with the distribution remaining largely unchanged from June.
Hiring activity is reported by 80.2% of organizations, while 15.1% have had to lay off employees. Measures to reduce working hours are implemented by 14.8% of companies, with changes in these shares falling within the margin of statistical error.
Social programs for employees remain in place at 86.0% of participating firms, while programs supporting other categories of citizens are present at 48.9% of companies. The most common employee social programs include vouchers for health and children’s recreation (72.6%), additional payments beyond the Labor Code (63.0%), voluntary health insurance (60.3%), and meal provision (53.4%). Budgets for employee social programs remain unchanged at nearly three-quarters of companies, while 16.7% report an increase and 9.7% report a reduction.
Approximately 70% of organizations continue to participate in implementing additional measures to reduce labor market tensions, consistent with the previous month. Advanced training for employees is provided by 45.3% of companies, internships are offered by 41.9%, and one-third of surveyed firms operate temporary employment programs for the population.