Russia cancels bond auction as stock market rout deepens

Russia’s Stock Market and Rouble Plunge Amid Spreading Fuel Crisis

Russia’s benchmark MOEX index suffered its steepest single-day drop since September 2022 on Monday, June 22, falling 4.23% to 2,318 points — its lowest level since March 2023 — as a deepening fuel crisis caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries rattled investors and sent the rouble sliding.unn

Market Rout Deepens

The selloff extended a 15-week losing streak that has now surpassed the decline seen during the 2008 global financial crisis, with the MOEX shedding more than 14% since the start of the year. During evening trading, the index briefly dipped below 2,300 points.nampa

Gazprom shares touched 99.9 roubles before closing at 100.65 — falling below the 100-rouble mark for the first time since 2009, according to Reuters. The stock has lost roughly 20% over the past 12 months amid reduced European gas purchases, declining oil prices, and the company’s failure to secure a new pipeline deal with China.investing

The rouble weakened past 74.6 per dollar on June 23, continuing a slide that has seen the currency lose more than 4% in the past month. Russia’s finance ministry cancelled its scheduled bond auctions for Wednesday, citing “increased volatility on financial markets”.tradingeconomics

Fuel Shortages Drive Panic

The market turmoil is being amplified by a fuel crisis now affecting more than 50 Russian regions, including Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Bloomberg reported that Ukrainian drone strikes have reduced Russia’s refining capacity by 20-30%, while The Wall Street Journal reported that drones have repeatedly struck a Moscow refinery responsible for over a third of fuel supplies to the capital.bloomberg

Fuel rationing has spread across the country, with major chains limiting purchases to 20-40 litres per transaction. Crimea has suspended civilian fuel sales entirely, reserving supplies for the military.aljazeera

Government Scrambles to Respond

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday that Russia is considering a complete ban on diesel exports alongside other measures to stabilize the domestic market. “The government is considering a complete ban on diesel exports and other measures,” Novak said, adding that oil companies are already producing at maximum capacity.oilprice

Reuters reported on June 23 that Russia is also weighing fuel imports to mitigate supply disruptions, with the Vedomosti daily citing unnamed sources who said the option was raised at a meeting chaired by Novak on Monday. Russia had already begun importing gasoline by sea from Asia earlier in June — an extraordinary step for one of the world’s largest oil exporters.internazionale

Analysts pointed to several converging pressures behind the market collapse. The Central Bank’s decision on Friday to cut its key interest rate by just 25 basis points — to 14.25% — rather than the 50 basis points investors expected, signaled that tight monetary policy would persist longer than hoped. Geopolitical risks and expectations of further fuel price increases compounded the selling, according to Freedom Finance Global analyst Natalya Milchakova.meduza