Nearly half (46%) of small and medium-sized businesses in Russia are expecting their annual sales to fall short of their targets.

Source: The Moscow Times, an independent Amsterdam-based news outlet

Details: This figure comes from an August survey conducted by Opora Rossii (Russia’s Stronghold), the association of medium-sized businesses, together with Promsvyazbank, the NAFI think tank and Magram Market Research.

Only 11% of businesses are planning to exceed their targets, while the rest are either on track or have no sales plan at all.

Trading and manufacturing companies have reported risks of not meeting sales targets more often than others (48%).

The RSBI SME business activity index, based on survey results, remains near the 50-point threshold that separates growth from decline. It stood at 50.4 in August, up slightly from 50 in July.

The small increase in the index was driven by the "loans" component, while others, including "sales", remained deeply negative.

Surveys have long recorded issues with sales: in recent months, nearly half of companies have reported revenue declines. In August, 45% of businesses reported falling revenues, down slightly from 47% in July. Only 14% reported revenue growth (13% in July).

Background: As of 1 September 2025, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities in Russia listed 3.17 million businesses, down from 3.29 million in 2023.

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