Two-week service break
Good morning, The Russian Morning Memo is going on a two-week break. It'll be back on Monday Aug. 4. Yours, James, Editor – The Memo
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0715GMT//Russian banks see unpaid loan crisis; interest rates likely to be cut; oligarchs choose to cruise in the Arctic
UNPAID LOANS: Three of Russia's largest banks have started talks with the Central Bank on taking emergency cash to cover unpaid consumer loans, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. Bloomberg quoted Russian banking insiders as saying that the Central Bank had asked commercial banks to "restructure" loans
0652GMT//Kremlin cancels its main weapons fair; sanctions delays repairs to refineries; Putin visits Magnitogorsk
WEAPONS FAIR CANCELLED: The Kremlin has cancelled its biggest annual weapons fair "Army" next month, the Izvestia and Kommersant newspapers reported without giving a reason. (COMMENT: If confirmed, this is a humiliation for the Kremlin. It set up the weapons fair in 2015 to show off Russian military
0654GMT//Kremlin dismisses Trump's secondary sanction threat; Russia claims most Armenian brandy is fake
RUSSIA DISMISSES TRUMP THREAT: The Kremlin has rejected Donald Trump's threat to impose secondary tariffs on Russia's trading partners if it didn't negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine in the next 50 days. (COMMENT: The threat of secondary sanctions against Russia's main
0726GMT//Trump threatens Russia's trade partners; carrot prices soar; Russian 'spy dens' to set up in UAE and Saudi Arabia
TRUMPS THREATENS RUSSIA'S PARTNERS: Donald Trump said on Monday that he would impose secondary sanctions on Russia and its trading partners if Putin does not negotiate a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days. (COMMENT: This is a major threat. Slapping sanctions on countries such
0615GMT//Kremlin seizes gold mine and tinned food producer; Lavrov tours North Korean beach resort
SEIZING ASSETS, PART 1: A court on Friday in Chelyabinsk in the Urals confirmed the seizure of Yuzhuralzoloto, Russia's fourth biggest gold mine, from oligarch Konstantin Strukov. Government officials have claimed that safety standards have been undermined. Strukov was detained earlier in July on his private jet trying
0805GMT//Putin skips funeral of minister who shot himself; Lavrov and Rubio meet; Kremlin bank sets up in Abkhazia
PUTING SKIPS MINISTER'S FUNERAL: Vladimir Putin ducked out of attending the funeral on Thursday of Roman Starovoyt, his former transport minister who killed himself on Sunday evening after being accused of corruption. The Kremlin said that Putin was busy with work. (COMMENT: Starovoyt's suicide is a
0815GMT//Lavrov to meet Rubio for 2nd time; white collar prisoners to work in labour gangs
RELATIONS WITH THE US: Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, will meet with Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers forum in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. (COMMENT: This is Lavrov and Rubio's second meeting. The previous one was in
0725GMT//Crisis talks between Russia and Azerbaijan; Kremlin "shocked" by minister's suicide
TRANSPORT MINISTER SUICIDE: The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it was "shocked" by the suicide of transport minister Roman Starovoit. (COMMENT: Starovoit shot himself in the head with his pistol after being accused of stealing from funds to build defences along the border with Ukraine in Russia'
0554GMT//Transport minister shoots himself; Golos shuts; Fee for airport smoking room is scrapped
EX-MINISTER SHOOTS HIMSELF: Roman Starovoit, Russia's former transport minister, was reported dead by Russian media a few hours after he was sacked by Vladimir Putin. Starovoit was governor of the Kursk region from 2018 until 2024, when he was promoted to transport minister. Sources in Russian media said