Russian stocks decline on government’s unpopular decisions

MOSCOW, Jun 14 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market edged down on Thursday pressured by the government’s decisions to increase value added tax (VAT) and begin a pension reform, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index sagged 0.76% to 2,253.48 and the RTS fell 0.58% to 1,140.97

“The Russian stock market fell slightly in the morning, and the decline strengthened on the back of the news from the government’s meeting. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced the plan to increase VAT to 20% from 18% and (the beginning) of a pension reform,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

He added that Russian companies’ tax burden may grow already from January 1, 2019.

The government wants to raise the retirement age to 63 for women and 65 for men gradually starting from 2019.

Aluminum giant UC RUSAL was among the biggest losers. The stock slipped 9.24% to 24.96 rubles after a report about troubles with transferring a stake to the Moscow Exchange from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Steel producer Severstal fell 1.4% to 1,025.9 rubles and Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) lost 1.01% to 47,745 rubles on the news that China’s steel production hit an all-time record in May.

Below are the MOEX Russia Index’s five most active stocks on Thursday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-0.47	214	9.206
Gazprom	-1.13	139.4	3.497
Lukoil	-1.21	4090	2.323
Norilsk Nickel	-1.01	11161	1.514
Tatneft	-1.98	642.05	1.396

(63.1164 rubles – U.S. $1)

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