Russian Stock Market Crashes Amid Signs Of Ukraine War Escalation & Export Tax Surge

On September 20, Russian stocks bled red and crashed amid reports of increasing export tax burden and war escalation.

As per a Bloomberg report, the stocks slumped the most since the country invaded Ukraine in February as the Kremlin moved to annex the regions it still occupied, following a sweeping Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Russia's potential move to annex occupied Ukrainian territory is being seen as a sign of a stark escalation of the conflict with Kyiv, which further dashes the hopes that the war could find an end anytime soon, especially after Ukraine's strong counter-offensive and steep Russian military losses.

bloomberg

Russian News Agency TASS mentioned that investors in Russia were also influenced by media reports about the Russian government considering the possibility of increasing the tax burden on export companies.

The main rouble-denominated benchmark of the Russian stock market, MOEX Russia Index tumbled as much as 11% before paring the decline, trading down 8.8% by the close in Moscow yesterday, which is the biggest retreat since February 24th 2022 Russian equities were the world¡¯s worst performers on Tuesday, as per Bloomberg.

Russian stocks also plunged amid Moscow reigniting martial law fears with new legislation and its plans to hold referendums on Russian-controlled regions in east Ukraine. Russia¡¯s parliament on Tuesday approved a bill to toughen punishments for a host of crimes such as desertion, damage to military property and insubordination if they were committed during military mobilisation or combat situations, as per Reuters.

Also Read: How A Science Genius Lost Millions In The Stock Market

Russian Currency Rouble Joins The Suffering

Reuters

The official Russian currency Rouble, too, slid lower yesterday, moving away from the 60-mark against the dollar and euro. Against the dollar, the rouble reportedly was down 0.6% at 60.50, and had lost 0.6% to 60.49 versus the euro.

All this adds to the misery for the Russian currency, as the Rouble has reportedly been the world¡¯s best-performing currency this year, buoyed by emergency capital controls rolled out by the central bank in a bid to halt a mass sell-off.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin is seemingly doubling down on the Ukraine invasion with the potential legislation, further strengthening his grip on the war. He also called for Russia's defence industry to increase its output of weapons. Meanwhile, Russia's finance ministry is considering plans to raise taxes on energy exports, as per Business Insider .

Also Read: World's Biggest Stock Market Crashes Of The 20th Century

For the latest financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here.