Corporate debt in Russia is growing rapidly - intelligence
Kyiv • UNN
Overdue accounts receivable of Russian businesses have grown to $100 billion. Due to high interest rates, it is more profitable for companies to keep funds in deposits.
Overdue accounts receivable of the Russian corporate sector have reached their worst level since the 2008–2009 global financial crisis. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, writes UNN.
Details
Overdue accounts receivable of the Russian corporate sector increased by 26% – from $79.3 billion to $100 billion – and its share in the total structure reached 10.3%.
This is the worst indicator since the 2008–2009 global financial crisis. The Kremlin is methodically destroying what is left of the business climate in the country
The total volume of accounts receivable has hardly changed and amounts to $1.6 trillion, but this is deceptive stability. Accounts payable of enterprises reached $650.9 billion, and the share of overdue obligations increased from 6.9% to 8.2%.
Payment chains are breaking across the economy, intelligence notes.
The key mechanism of self-destruction is the state's interest rate policy. Average loan rates for businesses in 2025 remained at 18–25% per annum, while the profitability of most industries was 8–12%.
At the same time, short-term deposits yielded 14–16%. The arithmetic is simple: paying counterparties is unprofitable, keeping money in a deposit is profitable. Companies massively choose the second option, shifting the burden to partners in the chain.
The total financial result of Russian companies in 2025 fell to $352.1 billion – minus 4% in nominal terms and almost minus 13% taking into account inflation.
"Businesses have become poorer, but obligations to banks have not decreased," the report says.
Small and medium-sized businesses, as always, turned out to be the most vulnerable. 31% of enterprises ended the year with significant non-payments from counterparties, primarily state structures, which is indicative.
In 19% of companies, accounts were not paid for more than six months. The state, which is already draining resources through mobilization and defense spending, also does not pay suppliers.
If at the beginning of 2025, 27% of companies named problems with settlements between counterparties as the main obstacle to work, then in December their share increased to 42.3%. The business environment is degrading faster than the Kremlin manages to issue victorious reports.
According to analysts, non-payments in the Russian corporate sector will become systemic, the report says.
The state, which simultaneously maintains the key rate at a suffocating level, does not fulfill its own payment obligations, and absorbs human and financial resources for the needs of the war, consistently destroys the conditions for normal economic activity