In brief

• The RSPP quarterly survey names falling demand and a working-capital shortage as the main business constraints in the third quarter.
• Demand was cited by 38% of firms and working-capital shortages by 36%, both up from the second quarter.
• Reports from Russian state-linked media say many firms are cutting spending, including investment programmes.

Demand and working capital top the list of business constraints

According to the RSPP monitoring published on 2 November, falling demand for goods and services was the main obstacle for companies in the third quarter, cited by 38% of respondents, up 5 percentage points from the second quarter (Мониторинг РСПП: предприятия урезают расходы из-за нехватки спроса и «оборотки» – mail.ru). A shortage of working capital came second, reported by 36% of firms, a rise of 9 points (Бизнес пожаловался на недостаток оборотных средств - Ведомости – vedomosti.ru).

Late payments ease, but borrowing and debt weigh more

Non-payment by counterparties became less frequent, falling to 36% from 40% in the second quarter. Access to borrowed funds was a problem for 20% of firms, up from 15% earlier in the year. The share reporting a heavier debt burden on loans and bond issues rose to 20% from 5% in April–June. Tax pressure was flagged by 18% of companies, unchanged from the previous quarter.

Spending cuts and investment delays

Many firms plan to reduce expenses, including investment programmes, and some are already scaling back output, according to the same survey coverage (84% компаний намерены урезать расходы – kommersant.ru). The reporting ties these trends to data from S&P Global and the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which indicate the pattern largely persisted into October.

Comparison with a year earlier

In the third quarter of 2025, falling demand was cited by 34% of respondents and working-capital shortages by 32%. Against that baseline, both problems have grown more widespread over the past year.