Russia has seen the sharpest rise in intercompany debt in more than 20 years

In Russia, overdue debt between businesses is rising rapidly. The reasons cited include the economic slowdown, tax increases, falling profits, and high interest rates on loans.

According to the analytical agency “Expert RA,” citing Rosstat, business accounts payable rose by 28% over the past year, or by 32 trillion rubles. By the end of June, the total had reached 155 trillion rubles. This is the largest increase over a 12-month period since 2004.

“Faced with a shortage of working capital, losses, expensive traditional financing, and difficulties in securing it, companies began to delay payments to their counterparties,” analysts noted.

Among large companies, 23.8% are delaying payments, compared to 20.8% a year earlier. The share of those with payments overdue by more than 60 days has risen from 4.1% to 6.5% since the beginning of 2025.

The number of medium-sized companies delaying payments has also increased—20.6% compared to 17.4% a year earlier.

Analysts warn of the risk of a “domino effect”: suppliers who do not receive payment from debtors are themselves unable to pay their partners on time.

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), which unites Russia’s largest companies accounting for about 60% of the national GDP, has sharply criticized the tax hikes the government is planning for 2027 to cover the military budget deficit.

As a reminder, consumer sentiment in Russia is rapidly deteriorating, confidence in the economy is declining, and anxiety is growing over a possible new wave of mobilization. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.

After three years of unexpected economic growth, Russia is facing a sudden slowdown—war costs, inflation, and falling oil prices have begun to weigh on an economy that, until recently, seemed resilient to sanctions.