The companies that left Russia replenished the budget of the Russian Federation by 84 billion rubles. Transactions from the sale of Russian assets owned by companies from unfriendly countries exceeded the forecast by 40 times. The financial plan assumed budget revenues from sales in the amount of 2 billion rubles for the first half of 2024. One of the biggest deals of this year was the sale of assets of Danone, HP and Hyundai. The Russian authorities have completed a preferential mortgage program that has been in operation for more than four years. During this time, Russians have issued about 1.5 million mortgage loans at a reduced rate of 8%. This has led to a significant increase in housing prices and an abnormal cost gap between the primary and secondary markets. Riots broke out in France amid the victory of the far-right National Unification party in the elections to the National Assembly. Protests took place in Paris, Lille, Nantes, Lyon and other cities. Marine Le Pen's party won 33.5% of the vote in the first round, while Macron's party took only third place with 22%. Hong Kong has increased imports of Russian diamonds for the first time since the beginning of the year. Shipments increased 18 times compared to last year. Thanks to this, Russia has become the third largest supplier of precious stones to Asia, increasing its share from 1% to 12%. Fertilizer producers in Europe express serious concerns about the lack of cheap gas supplies from Russia. According to the Financial Times, the shortage of available raw materials threatens to collapse the business. At the same time, the EU is increasing imports of ready-made fertilizers from Russia and Belarus, which causes even greater damage to local producers.
