What Kommersant, RBC, Vedomosti, Interfax and Forbes Russia report — selected and summarized in English every morning, for readers who don't read Russian. Analysis-grade sourcing, no wire rehash. Data context in the Russia Terminal. Also: Central Asia Digest · Caucasus wire.
Energy policy and trade controls dominate the day: OPEC+ holds quotas, gas producers face a higher tax surcharge, and Moscow extends a customs relief for Belarusian imports.
Ministers of seven OPEC+ countries, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan, decided to extend current oil production quotas for December, OPEC said in a press release cited by Interfax. Russia's ceiling stays at 9.949 million barrels per day, Saudi Arabia's at 10.478 million. The group will continue monthly reviews; the next meeting is on 29 November, the day of the full OPEC+ meeting. For foreign buyers and investors, Russian crude output limits remain unchanged into year-end.
Source: Interfax, 1 Nov 2026
The coefficient used to calculate the surcharge on the mineral extraction tax (MET) for independent gas producers increased from 2% to 5% on 1 November, Interfax reported. Under current law, the rate rises to 8% from 1 August 2027 and to 11% from 1 August 2028. Gas bought solely for LNG production and gas from Sakhalin production-sharing agreements is excluded. The law, adopted on 28 November 2025, also grants Gazprom an MET deduction. The State Duma passed amendments in first reading on 29 October to widen the calculation base; the Ministry of Finance expects no additional budget revenue from that measure. The step raises the tax cost for non-Gazprom gas producers.
Source: Interfax, 2 Nov 2026
The government extended until 30 June 2027 the exemption from the security payment under the SPOT import-tracking system for goods from Belarusian-registered suppliers crossing the Russian-Belarusian border, Kommersant reported. The decree was published on 30 October and took effect on 1 November. According to the Ministry of Finance, SPOT brought an additional 34 billion rubles to the budget in its first three months. The ministry linked the exemption to a draft Union State decree and said the payment may prove unnecessary if bilateral tax-data exchange suffices. Importers from other EAEU countries remain subject to the payment unless exempt as large, reliable importers.
Source: Kommersant, 2 Nov 2026
The Ministry of Finance has prepared a bill to automatically convert frozen funded pension savings into the Long-Term Savings Programme (PDS), Kommersant reported. It covers clients of the state VEB.RF and of private pension funds (NPFs). The ministry plans to start conversion on 1 April 2027; the bill is to be submitted to the State Duma in early November. Funds would be managed by an "authorised fund" with mandatory state participation. The measure may shift assets between VEB.RF, NPFs and the new fund, which matters for financial-sector investors.
Source: Kommersant, 2 Nov 2026
Gas flows through the European leg of TurkStream totalled 1.615 billion cubic metres in October, 4% less than a year earlier, Interfax reported, citing European grid operators. Capacity utilisation averaged 92%, up from 79% in September. Cumulative deliveries since January are up 0.9% at 14.672 billion cubic metres. The pipeline carries Russian gas via Turkey to southern Europe.
Source: Interfax, 1 Nov 2026
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