https://sputniknews.in/20250612/ruble-is-strongest-in-the-world-do-we-like-it-9274165.html
Ruble Is Strongest in the World: Do We Like It?
Ruble Is Strongest in the World: Do We Like It?
Sputnik India
So the Russian currency, the old and glorious ruble, has become, in 2025, the best performing currency in the world, according to the Bank of America. Do we... 12.06.2025, Sputnik India
2025-06-12T11:12+0530
2025-06-12T11:12+0530
2025-06-12T11:32+0530
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What does that word “performance” mean for someone who had a spare 100 US dollar note at the end of 2024? It means that, in plain language, that someone might have bought a stack of rubles and kept it until now. And then that someone might want to sell these rubles this June and buy, again, dollars, suddenly owning more than 140 of these. Minus, of course, the difference between buying and selling rates, commissions and other kind of robbery. And, believe me, some people did just that, and used a bit more than 100 dollars for such operations.So what are the reasons for that? It’s not that just the ruble goes up, it’s rather the greenback that goes down, says Evgeny Kogan, a well-known private investment banker. At least, American currency’s problems are responsible for about a half of ruble’s rally.Kogan, and a veritable crowd of other money gurus, are essentially telling us that 2025 is not 2008, when the current global financial crisis has struck the world. Then, and in the epidemic 2020, the reflex of investors was illogical - that is, to buy dollar and other American assets, and sit tight. But the third time pays for all, now at last the investing crowd has decided that something is seriously wrong with the US economy. Or else why would President Donald Trump threaten half of the world with customs tariffs on unimaginable scale. So, global demand for dollar as a safe haven went down, and its value followed suit.Demand for dollar has been also undermined by political and military events, like the war of the West against Russia, with attempts to strangle Russia’s economy with sanctions. As a result, a lot of BRICS nations preferred to trade in national currencies, which, again, has diminished the global demand for dollars.Settlements in national currencies constitute up to 90 per cent of all the payments of Russia to the BRICS nations in 2024, said Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, to the Brazilian O’Globo newspaper. By now all the Russian foreign trade uses only 18.6 per cent of dollars and euros for exports and 22 per cent for imports, and these figures are going down steadily. Incidentally, same happens to the trade of other BRICS nations with each other.That means, as financial analyst Paul Goncharoff tells Sputnik, that the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) “has seen significant ruble inflows from all over the planet, both directly and indirectly because of anti-Russian sanctions.”So, again, sanctions gave the Russian economy an unexpected lift. The problem is, nothing is forever. A strong currency looks cool right now, but it is sure to bring problems in the future.According to Olga Samophalova, the expert of the Vzglyad newspaper, the strong ruble potentially undermines the budget, especially if the prices of oil and gas do not grow like crazy (and that they do not do). Each barrel of oil sells cheaper than expected, meaning that it brings less rubles to the budget. Budget deficit may reach 1.7 per cent of GNP at the year’s end, which still makes Russia’s finance and the rest of economy extremely healthy by the global standards, but deficits are still a problem, if not tackled in time.Russia has got itself into a unique economic situation right now. Getting under an attack of the West, it has achieved what it could not achieve for at least a decade.First, Russia has unshackled itself from European and American economies, that are in big trouble now, exactly due to the Western decision to confront Russia (and China, and not only them). Second, the governmental spending on all kind of military and related hi-tech innovations has raised the wave of incredible enthusiasm in the most important areas of tomorrow’s economy. Third, the nation has no unemployment to speak of. It’s 2.3 per cent, second in the world after Mexico. Which, incidentally, has brought up the problem of lack of high-skilled personnel all over the land. Fourth, Russia’s sudden GNP growth has brought it up a couple of steps among the world’s top economies, together with an increased military clout. And, finally, we now have that super-strong ruble to be proud (and vary) of.All that means that the nation is on the brink of some yet undetermined leap ahead. It may translate, in several years’ time, in Russia’s new role in the world economy, not to mention a higher profile in global political affairs. To think of it, the nation had found itself in a similar situation in 1914, outpacing a lot of European powers in anything you can imagine. And then the First World War came along.You have a perfect right to doubt the mental facilities of a lot of the current Western leaders, especially when the ground is shaking beneath their feet. But, still, there are enough of people out there that can see the obvious things, even though they are not supposed to talk about them. And that explains a lot about the irrational state of things in the global community.One can see clearly that the gut reaction of many leaders in Europe, if not in the US, is to prolong the current Ukrainian crisis for as long as it’s possible, especially since it’s Ukraine that bears the biggest costs. That’s the explanation for the surreal drama, called the Russo-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul.Says Gleb Prostyakov, another business analyst from the mentioned Vzglyad resource: the talks in Istanbul are doomed to stay a ritual that has no influence on the grim realities for the top global players. It even seems that this show goes on only for the benefit of audience of one, that one being Donald Trump. The warring nations may choose to keep Istanbul as an opened channel for settling of some humanitarian problems, like exchange of prisoners, but that hardly will change the situation of a complete dead-end and impasse for those who started the Ukrainian crisis.Namely, if the crisis is solved, then the West, or Europe to be precise, will have to bankroll indefinitely the remains of Ukraine, that has a zero chance of being an economy. The only global player vaguely interested in the future potential of Ukraine seems to be the US, but then that country currently has a lot of problems of its own.In the meantime, Russia will emerge from that encounter as a nation, looking very much like a sky liner just before the takeoff. And that’s in addition to other, Asian and not only Asian nations in a similar position.It will take a lot of courage from any Western leader to accept that new reality and admit it openly. In the meantime we’ll probably have to bear the current situation for a little bit longer.Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
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Ruble Is Strongest in the World: Do We Like It?
11:12 12.06.2025 (Updated: 11:32 12.06.2025) So the Russian currency, the old and glorious ruble, has become, in 2025, the best performing currency in the world, according to the Bank of America. Do we, Russians, love that fact? The answer is, we do, but with plenty of reservations.
What does that word “performance” mean for someone who had a spare 100 US dollar note at the end of 2024? It means that, in plain language, that someone might have bought a stack of rubles and kept it until now. And then that someone might want to sell these rubles this June and buy, again, dollars, suddenly owning more than 140 of these. Minus, of course, the difference between buying and selling rates, commissions and other kind of robbery. And, believe me, some people did just that, and used a bit more than 100 dollars for such operations.
So what are the reasons for that? It’s not that just the ruble goes up, it’s rather the greenback that goes down, says Evgeny Kogan, a well-known private investment banker. At least, American currency’s problems are responsible for about a half of ruble’s rally.
Kogan, and a veritable crowd of other money gurus, are essentially telling us that 2025 is not 2008, when the current global financial crisis has struck the world. Then, and in the epidemic 2020, the reflex of investors was illogical - that is, to buy dollar and other American assets, and sit tight. But the third time pays for all, now at last the investing crowd has decided that something is seriously wrong with the US economy. Or else why would President Donald Trump threaten half of the world with customs tariffs on unimaginable scale. So, global demand for dollar as a safe haven went down, and its value followed suit.
Demand for dollar has been also undermined by political and military events, like the war of the West against Russia, with attempts to strangle Russia’s economy with sanctions. As a result, a lot of BRICS nations preferred to trade in national currencies, which, again, has diminished the global demand for dollars.
Settlements in national currencies constitute up to 90 per cent of all the payments of Russia to the BRICS nations in 2024, said Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, to the Brazilian O’Globo newspaper. By now all the Russian foreign trade uses only 18.6 per cent of dollars and euros for exports and 22 per cent for imports, and these figures are going down steadily. Incidentally, same happens to the trade of other BRICS nations with each other.
That means, as financial analyst Paul Goncharoff
tells Sputnik, that the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) “has seen significant ruble inflows from all over the planet, both directly and indirectly because of anti-Russian sanctions.”
So, again, sanctions gave the Russian economy an unexpected lift. The problem is, nothing is forever. A strong currency looks cool right now, but it is sure to bring problems in the future.
According to Olga Samophalova, the expert of the Vzglyad newspaper, the strong ruble potentially undermines the budget, especially if the prices of oil and gas do not grow like crazy (and that they do not do). Each barrel of oil sells cheaper than expected, meaning that it brings less rubles to the budget. Budget deficit may reach 1.7 per cent of GNP at the year’s end, which still makes Russia’s finance and the rest of economy extremely healthy by the global standards, but deficits are still a problem, if not tackled in time.
Russia has got itself into a unique economic situation right now. Getting under an attack of the West, it has achieved what it could not achieve for at least a decade.
First, Russia has unshackled itself from European and American economies, that are in big trouble now, exactly due to the Western decision to confront Russia (and China, and not only them). Second, the governmental spending on all kind of military and related hi-tech innovations has raised the wave of incredible enthusiasm in the most important areas of tomorrow’s economy. Third, the nation has no unemployment to speak of. It’s 2.3 per cent, second in the world after Mexico. Which, incidentally, has brought up the problem of lack of high-skilled personnel all over the land. Fourth, Russia’s sudden GNP growth has brought it up a couple of steps among the world’s top economies, together with an increased military clout. And, finally, we now have that super-strong ruble to be proud (and vary) of.
All that means that the nation is on the brink of some yet undetermined leap ahead. It may translate, in several years’ time, in Russia’s new role in the world economy, not to mention a higher profile in global political affairs. To think of it, the nation had found itself in a similar situation in 1914, outpacing a lot of European powers in anything you can imagine. And then the First World War came along.
You have a perfect right to doubt the mental facilities of a lot of the current Western leaders, especially when the ground is shaking beneath their feet. But, still, there are enough of people out there that can see the obvious things, even though they are not supposed to talk about them. And that explains a lot about the irrational state of things in the global community.
One can see clearly that the gut reaction of many leaders in Europe, if not in the US, is to prolong the current Ukrainian crisis for as long as it’s possible, especially since it’s Ukraine that bears the biggest costs. That’s the explanation for the surreal drama, called the Russo-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul.
Says Gleb Prostyakov, another business analyst from the mentioned Vzglyad resource: the talks in Istanbul are doomed to stay a ritual that has no influence on the grim realities for the top global players. It even seems that this show goes on only for the benefit of audience of one, that one being Donald Trump. The warring nations may choose to keep Istanbul as an opened channel for settling of some humanitarian problems, like exchange of prisoners, but that hardly will change the situation of a complete dead-end and impasse for those who started the Ukrainian crisis.
Namely, if the crisis is solved, then the West, or Europe to be precise, will have to bankroll indefinitely the remains of Ukraine, that has a zero chance of being an economy. The only global player vaguely interested in the future potential of Ukraine seems to be the US, but then that country currently has a lot of problems of its own.
In the meantime, Russia will emerge from that encounter as a nation, looking very much like a sky liner just before the takeoff. And that’s in addition to other, Asian and not only Asian nations in a similar position.
It will take a lot of courage from any Western leader to accept that new reality and admit it openly. In the meantime we’ll probably have to bear the current situation for a little bit longer.
Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
