Dollar and euro rise in price in Russia against the backdrop of the situation around Prigozhin and Wagner PMC

Internal political upheavals touched the main Russian financial indicator – exchange rates. Already on the night of June 23-24, banks sharply raised the selling prices of foreign currencies, in the morning they exceeded exchange rates for the dollar and euro by 10-13 rubles. and 12-14 rubles. respectively. However, the citizens behaved rather reservedly, and by the middle of the day the banks lowered their quotes. The limiting factor was high spreads between buying and selling, as well as restrictions on the circulation of “unfriendly” currencies. But the situation remains tense, and credit institutions are again raising rates.

On the night of June 23-24, after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s statements appeared on Telegram channels, banks began to sharply raise the selling price of the currency. In the morning hours of Saturday, the selling rates for dollars were 94.5-97.5 rubles / $, and the European currency was sold at 104-106.4 rubles / €. This is significantly higher than closed currency trading on the Moscow Exchange the day before: 84.7 rubles/$ and 92.4 rubles/€. In profile channels and chats, citizens were looking for an opportunity to buy currency, but “not at any rate.”

As a result, during the day a number of banks, primarily with a large number of clients and branches, have already reduced rates by 5-7 rubles.

In particular, Gazprombank, Alfa-Bank, Sberbank sold the dollar cheaper than 89 rubles / $, Raiffeisenbank and VTB set quotes at the level of 89-89.5 rubles / $. Euro selling rates fell even more – by 10-12 rubles. So, Alfa-Bank and Tinkoff-Bank sold the European currency below 94 rubles / €, in Gazprombank, Sberbank, FC Otkritie, the rate slightly exceeded 94 rubles / €.

At the same time, the banks claim that there was no increased demand for the currency. Sberbank noted that the demand for foreign exchange transactions of clients is “at the level of standard values”, there is also no “increased demand for cash withdrawals”. The IBC noted that on Saturday it is “comparable to the average weekend.” Zenith Bank also did not observe “an increase in demand for cash and foreign exchange transactions.”

The PSB said that the bank is operating as usual “at all points of its presence, including the territories of new regions, which, among other things, serve the military personnel involved in the SVO.” They added that “there is no increased demand for cash withdrawals and foreign exchange transactions.”

Wide spreads between buying and selling foreign currency, which averaged 5–7 rubles per dollar, but in some cases exceeded 20 rubles, could become deterrent factors. For the euro, the spread was wider – 6-10 rubles. In addition, when buying non-cash currency (through mobile applications of banks), it still cannot be withdrawn in cash, and banks regularly impose high rates for keeping “unfriendly” currencies in accounts.

Due to the fact that it was not possible to completely resolve the crisis by Saturday evening, the banks again adjusted the selling rates of the currency, now upwards.

However, they did not return to morning values. In particular, the selling rate for dollars rose to 90-93 rubles/$, selling rates for the euro – up to 96-99 rubles/€.

Finance Department