Yesterday at 20:05
Russia’s economy has entered a phase where even official statistics can no longer conceal the scale of its problems, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU).
The agency reports that the aggregate profit of Russian enterprises fell by 8.3% in the first eight months of 2025 — a figure that indicates a systemic contraction of business activity.
The credit market also reflects growing instability: the share of troubled corporate borrowers has reached 23%, while around 165,000 companies can no longer service their debts. This, the SZRU notes, shows that Russia’s corporate sector has lost financial resilience.
One of the clearest indicators is the collapse of the coal industry, long considered a pillar of Russian exports.
- The share of unprofitable coal enterprises has reached 67%.
- Cumulative losses for January–August totaled 263.2 billion rubles, increasing by 38.2 billion rubles in just one month.
- Profits have halved, while losses have grown 2.6 times.
“A sector that was supposed to generate foreign currency has turned into a black hole for the state budget,” the intelligence report states.
The services sector is also showing severe strain. Russian Post reported a 4.5% drop in core service revenues and a 9.3% decline in financial intermediation income.
Gross profitability fell 2.5 times, while losses from sales jumped 5.7 times to 10.7 billion rubles.
Short-term liabilities now exceed current assets by 25.6 billion rubles, five times more than a year ago — a classic sign of a liquidity crisis, according to the report.
The metallurgical giant Norilsk Nickel has seen its net profit drop by 39% and expenses rise by 34% due to higher interest rates, with simultaneous declines in the production of nickel, copper, palladium, and platinum — signaling a loss of global competitiveness.
Meanwhile, Gazprom has reported a net loss of 170.3 billion rubles over nine months — a dramatic reversal for a company that for decades was a key donor to the Russian state budget.
Russian Railways (RZD) also posted a loss of 4.2 billion rubles, adding to the picture of decline.
“All these data points form a single pattern: the Russian economy is losing its ability to generate profit even in traditionally strong sectors. Rising debt, falling production, and mounting losses indicate that the crisis is no longer a temporary disruption but a new norm,”
the SZRU concluded.
