0612GMT//Russia's birth rate slows; criminal general applies to fight on the frontline
WEAK MEDIA LINE ON TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING: The Kremlin still appears to have dodged giving its media a strong editorial line for the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska on Friday. Stories linked to the meeting focus on side issues, such as Putin's security detail, rather than policy outcomes. (COMMENT: This vacuum is telling. Media agendas in Russia are set by the Kremlin.)
GDP GROWS, SLOWLY: Russia's GDP in Q2 grew by 1.1%, in line with expectations but lower than the 1.4% growth in Q1, Rosstat said on Wednesday. (COMMENT: Even this growth figure is skewed. If you rip out growth generated by Russia's war economy, GDP will have shrunk significantly.)
BIRTH RATE SLOWS: Russia's so-called "fertility rate" has fallen to its lowest level since 2006, according to data from Rosstat, undermining a Kremlin drive to boost the population. It said that the number of children per woman measured 1.376 in May - the 10th consecutive year it has fallen. (COMMENT: Russia's birth rate is an obsession for Vladimir Putin. He has ordered tax breaks and other incentives to boost the number of children born in Russia. Teenage pregnancies are now encouraged in many regions.)
CRIMINAL GENERAL APPLIES TO FIGHT ON FRONTLINES: Khalil Arslanov, formerly a general and deputy head of Russia's military, has applied to join the frontlines in Ukraine in exchange for having his conviction for bribe-taking quashed. Russian media reported that the 61-year-old, who looked overweight at his trial in July when he was sentenced to 17 years in prison, has passed a medical ahead of his transfer to the frontline. (COMMENT: The Kremlin allows men convicted of almost any crimes to transfer to a frontline unit. In return, their criminal records are wiped clean. It's a perverse system that traumatises victims but has proved popular among convicts. Arslanov may also have calculated that now is a good time to get to the frontline as the Trump-Putin meeting on Friday could possibly trigger a peace deal.)
RESTRICTIONS ON WHATSAPP VOICE CALLS: The Kremlin has restricted voice calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, Russian media reported. Reports said that the restrictions don't apply to regions of Ukraine captured by Russia, where soldiers heavily use WhatsApp and Telegram to communicate. (COMMENT: Russian media said that fraudsters were using WhatsApp and Telegram voice calls to scam people, but some analysts said that the real reason may be to boost the revenues of Russia's mobile telecom companies. It's unclear how severe the voice call restrictions on WhatsApp and Telegram will be, but they are certainly another personal freedom restriction for ordinary Russians and another inconvenience. It also further isolates Russia from the rest of the world.)
VAN FACTORY CLOSES: A factory in Bryansk, western Russia, that opened earlier this year to produce copies of Chinese vans has closed because the "market is dead". Its owner said that expensive loans and poor sales orders have forced him to mothball his factory. (COMMENT: Outside Russia's government-powered war economy, Russian businesses are struggling to survive –as the collapse of this factory producing Chinese vans under licence shows. Analysts have said that the market for vans in Russia has fallen by 18% this year.)
DISCOUNT GROCERY RETAILERS GROW: X5, Russia's largest grocery retailer, said on Wednesday that profit for the first half of the year was down 21% despite an increase in revenues. Revenue growth was driven by X5's discount brand Chiznik, which saw a 50% increase in the number of outlets this year. (COMMENT: The rise of X5's discount brand is linked to Russians' push to find cheaper food, a reflection of tightening economic conditions. X5's data showed that its premium supermarket brand Perekrestok has stagnated.)
STAFF CRISIS IN HEALTH RESORTS: Health sanatoriums in Russia, a traditional holiday destination, are running "critically" short of staff, industry leaders have told the Kommersant newspaper. They said that most sanatoriums were trying to cope with staff shortages of 30-40%. (COMMENT: Most of these sanatoriums are based in small regional towns or resorts which have seen a huge outflow of young people over the past decade. The war in Ukraine has accelerated this trend as huge signing-on bonuses attract men to the frontlines. Men and women in small towns across Russia have also left for work in weapons factories in cities for far higher salaries.)