Survey of Current Business (December 2019 - March 2020)

Sergey P. Aukutsionek – Head of Center for Transition Economy Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Andrey S. Yegorov – Senior Researcher of the Center for Transition Economy Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tatyana V. Serzhantova – Senior Researcher of the Center for Transition Economy Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Stanislav V. Belyakov – Researcher of the Center for Transition Economy Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In December 2019, the diffusion index of stocks of finished products reached the lowest value for 10 years (34). It was lower only three times: in 1998, 1999 and 2009. Stocks of finished products (relative to the normal monthly level = 100) also decreased significantly, reaching a minimum for 2.5 years (77%).

Among the factors that constrain production, compared with a quarter ago data, the share of enterprises indicating a lack of demand for manufactured products has decreased significantly – by 19 percentage points and reached 49%. The share of enterprises that indicated high taxes increased by the same 19 percentage points and amounted to 31%. The rating of the factor of high prices for raw materials, materials, and semi-finished products also increased: adding 11 points, it reached 29%.

Key words: Russia, industry, industrial enterprises, price level, wages, employment, output, investment, indebtedness to banks, order-book level, stocks of finished products, capacity utilization rate, financial situation, production restrictive factors.