0734GMT//Kremlin complains about Moldova election; carmaker puts staff on 4-day week; roughly 1,000 people join 'civic action' in Moscow

MOLDOVAN ELECTION: The Kremlin criticised Moldova's parliamentary election over the weekend for blocking pro-Russia supporters from voting after the pro-EU government party won a majority. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that "hundreds of thousands of Moldovans" couldn't vote in Russia because "only two polling stations were open". (COMMENT: This election was seen as a pivotal one for the pro-EU Action and Solidarity party to win, especially with widespread allegations of vote-buying by pro-Russia agents. Action and Solidarity won a 50.2% majority beating analysts' expectations. It's no surprise that the Kremlin and its propaganda agents are crying foul.)

A PROTEST IN MOSCOW, SORT OF: Russian opposition media reported on Monday that perhaps up to 1,000 people took part in a "civic action" against the Kremlin. In an organised "civic action", people queue for hours on Saturday to file civil and environmental complaints with a government office near the Kremlin. Eyewitnesses said that the event lasted for 5-1/2 hours and that up to 1,000 people took part in it. (COMMENT: Organisers were at pains to insist that this was not a protest and therefore could not be banned but this is clearly one of the biggest anti-government actions in Moscow since the early anti-war protests in 2022. There have been other protests in the regions against the Kremlin but not in Moscow. Filing petitions and complaints on local environmental and social issues is as close as many Muscovites can get to a protest, currently.)

FUEL RATIONING: Occupied Crimea imposed fuel rationing for Ai92 and Ai95 grades of petrol on Monday, more evidence of widespread fuel shortages. Officials promised that the 30-litre limit would be lifted "in days". (COMMENT: Fuel shortages in Russia are one of the biggest headaches facing the Kremlin. Ukrainian drones have knocked out at least 20% of its refining capacity, pushing up general inflation and generating shortages. This "brings the war home" for ordinary Russians.)

INTEREST RATES: Alfa Bank analysts have said that they expect the Central Bank to keep its core interest rate steady at 17% for the rest of this year to balance out the inflationary impact of a VAT increase planned for Jan. 1. (COMMENT: This is the first research paper to warn against interest rate cuts in Russia. The Central Bank has cut interest rates from 22% to 17% this year but businesses have said that more cuts are needed to stop the economy from tipping into a recession. The Kremlin, though, is worried about weakening the Russian rouble and also about inflation. It announced this month that VAT would increase to 22% from 20% from Jan. 1.)

CARMAKER CUTS WORKING WEEK: AvtoVAZ, Russia's biggest carmaker, switched to a four-day week on Monday because of poor sales. In mid-September, AvtoVAZ CEO Maxim Sokolov revised down production plans for 2025 to 300,000 cars from 500,000. Car sales have fallen rapidly since the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine because of high interest rates and a worsening civilian economy. (COMMENT: This is another blow to the Kremlin's propaganda machine. Clearly, when the biggest carmaker puts its staff on four-day workweeks, something is wrong. Ordinary Russians know that the war in Ukraine and its economic impact have undermined their quality of life.)