The Bell
banner
thebellio.bsky.social
The Bell
@thebellio.bsky.social
The Bell is the leading independent media covering Russia's economy. Founded in 2017 by a team of experienced editors, The Bell's experts write two newsletters per week with analysis of the most important economic news out of Russia: https://en.thebell.io/
For a limited period of time, Inside the Russian Economy is sharing The Bell’s full English coverage on our new Substack.

Please subscribe to receive our expert analysis and never miss an update: thebellio.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:13 AM
By 2025, Russia was spending nearly the same share of its budget on debt service as the UK — even though Russia’s overall debt load was far smaller, at 17.67% of GDP versus more than 100% in the UK.
November 18, 2025 at 11:50 AM
By world standards, Russia’s state borrowing is genuinely low. It stands at 38.6 trillion rubles ($475 billion), just 17.7% of GDP, this year and is set to rise to 43.7 trillion rubles ($537 billion), 18.6% of GDP, next year. By comparison, the average debt-to-GDP ratio in the Eurozone is 81.8%.
November 18, 2025 at 11:50 AM
"The corporate sector has its own problems, mentioned by the central bank in a document published last week summarizing its latest decision on the key rate."

thebellio.substack.com/p/is-russia-...
November 17, 2025 at 7:05 AM
"Similar issues are playing out with mortgages issued from mid-2023 to mid-2024, when Russians rushed to buy property before the cancellation of state-subsidized mortgages."

thebellio.substack.com/p/is-russia-...
November 17, 2025 at 7:04 AM
"By the start of October, the proportion of non-performing loans made up 12.9% of all outstanding unsecured consumer debt."

thebellio.substack.com/p/is-russia-...
November 17, 2025 at 7:04 AM
A sneak peak of our newsletter coming later today on foreign banks in Russia...please subscribe for free to our new Substack to read in full!

thebellio.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:22 AM