Russia’s exports of herring to Egypt have undergone a massive surge, from 100 tonnes in H1 2025 to 5,600 tonnes in H1 2026. The fish is a standard ingredient in many Egyptian dishes such as Renga bel Tahini. The overall African demand for herring is expected to triple by 2030.
Russia has completed the ratification of its labor agreement with India, which eases the procedures for hiring temporary employees. It comes as Moscow seeks more Indian workers to address labor shortages, and covers Indians working in Russia and Russians employed in India under employment or service contracts. It also applies to full-time students taking temporary jobs outside their studies.
Russian fintech company A7 has launched the world’s first global payment service that allows customers to make cross-border transactions using cryptocurrency, allowing customers to pay using USDT, while recipients receive conventional bank transfers through SWIFT without having to handle cryptocurrency themselves. The service was launched on October 13. Payments are available in US dollars, euros, Chinese yuan and UAE dirhams and carry a commission of 0.3%. Transfers take just minutes.
The Russian and Abkhazia Foreign Ministers have meet in Moscow for their annual trade evaluation discussions. Bilateral trade is showing strong growth, based on the back of a significantly developing tourism sector, helping Abkhazia develop its own economic strengths without having to rely on Russian aid or loans. Abkhazia’s nominal GDP reached over US$1billion for the first time last year and is continuing to show sustainable increases.
The Russian and South Ossetian Foreign Ministers have met in Moscow to discuss their mutual trade, and South Ossetia’s development. South Ossetia is hampered by a lack of international recognition and relies upon Russia for much of its GDP. However, there are plans in to develop self-sustaining industries such as tourism to allow South Ossetia increasing economic independence. Targets are for the current GDP to increase by 60% by 2030.
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Russia’s agricultural exports to South Africa have reached US$53 million in 9M 226, with wheat making up the bulk of the trade, along with instant coffee and millet. Total bilateral trade could exceed US$1 billion for the first time by the end of this year.
Russia and China have been discussing maritime security cooperation during ministerial-level talks in Beijing, with both sides critical of Western sanctions, and interference with the maritime law of the sea concerning right of passage. This raises the possibility of joint naval patrols being extended towards both their and friendly-country allies shipping on a global basis.
Russia’s automotive regulator has suspended the sale of numerous Russian trucks and SUV’s following spot-checks on safety compliance issues. Most of the defects related to braking systems, visible pollutant emissions, and the safety of external protrusions. Complaints also arose regarding seat belt anchor points, cabin safety features, emergency call devices, and external and internal noise. Imports can resume once the issues are rectified.
Vietnamese nationals may enter Russia visa-free from October 15 under a new decree. About 40,000 Vietnamese visited Russia in 2025, with most going to Moscow and St.Petersburg. That number can be expected to increase during 2026 and 2027.
In signs of increasing confidence in the Russian economy, private investors boosted investments in mutual investment funds on the Moscow Exchange by 320% year-on-year to ₽19.7 billion (US$231.5 million) in September 2026. Russia has long tried to access the estimated US$80 trillion stored in private bank accounts and appears to be having some success in motivating domestic private capital to seek better returns and invest into the Russian economy and business sector.
Intra-Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) trade is up 19% in H1 2026, although Russian President Putin has asked for trade barriers to be lowered to increase multilateral trade still further. The effective CIS members are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Ukraine began exiting the bloc in 2014 but has not been able to secure trade guarantees with the European Union either – leaving it in de facto trade limbo and with no eastern markets.
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