SviatoslavGusev

Companies are increasingly receiving requests and facing inspections by tax authorities from other regions, Kommersant reports. In particular, regional tax inspectorates have joined the oversight of 5,500 Moscow-based organizations.

Importantly, these inspectorates are not limited to providing technical support: they conduct inspections independently and request documents, which can make interactions with taxpayers more complicated.

Experts believe that the number of such cross-regional inspections will continue to grow, and that tax oversight overall will become more detailed and in-depth.

The Central Bank of Russia set the official dollar exchange rate at 80 rubles.

Six major European luxury goods manufacturers—Kering (which owns Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and other brands), Richemont, Prada, Moncler, LVMH and Hermes—collectively lost €251 billion in market capitalization in 2026. Shares of leading luxury-sector companies fell amid declining demand from Chinese consumers.

And what is the nature of ambition?

People are writing in the comments that ambition stems from trauma—that you want to prove something to someone, and that a “healthy” person shouldn’t suffer from “achievementism.” This theory is especially popular with those very unambitious people—it’s nice for them to think they’re “healthy.”

But that’s not true. Trauma won’t get you far for long—it soon becomes clear that it doesn’t work, it doesn’t help, and you won’t prove anything to anyone, so all your drive to achieve fades away.

In fact, the main source of ambition is curiosity. I’ve written about this before. Some people are simply very curious about what comes next, about the next level, like in a computer game. They’re just curious, and they genuinely don’t understand how these so-called “healthy people” can stay on the first level and not want to move on to the second.

And I’d argue about who’s truly healthy here. After all, every child without exception is curious, which means it’s our default setting. But as we grow up, for some reason only a few of us retain that passion for reaching new heights and levels—that very thing called ambition.

State Duma deputies have proposed raising the tax deduction available when purchasing an apartment from 2 million to 8 million rubles. In lawmakers’ view, the current limit has long since ceased to reflect actual housing prices on the market. As before, the refund amount will depend on the taxpayer’s income level and the applicable personal income tax rate.

VK reported a 21% year-over-year increase in revenue in the third quarter of 2026, reaching RUB 47 billion, with all of the company’s segments showing positive growth in both revenue and EBITDA. For the first nine months of the year, the company’s revenue rose by 15% to RUB 128 billion, while EBITDA increased by 30% to RUB 20.2 billion. In-stream video advertising revenue totaled RUB 7.6 billion, up 44%.

The main drivers of growth were online and video advertising, strong performance on VKontakte, and the development of VK Tech and the education business. Social commerce showed impressive momentum: its volume grew by 81% in the third quarter compared with the second, reaching RUB 1.2 billion. Total revenue from this segment since its launch in October 2025 reached RUB 3.4 billion.

The successful monetization of the MAX messenger was also noted: tools for business clients went live, and targeted advertising was launched on October 5, 2026. From July to October, revenue from the segment exceeded RUB 700 million, while the service’s daily audience surpassed 90 million people.

The U.S. stock market lost around half a trillion dollars in market capitalization.

For the first time in six years, Sberbank has taken first place in the RBC 500 ranking, which brings together Russia’s largest companies by revenue. In 2025, the bank’s revenue amounted to 11.7 trillion rubles—the only figure on the list to exceed 10 trillion.

According to RBC, Sber’s leadership is explained by the scale of its business and the fact that the year as a whole was favorable for the financial sector. Most analysts surveyed by the publication remain positive about the bank’s share prospects: dividends for 2026 are expected to range from 42 to 45 rubles per share.

CrowdStrike specialists discovered that artificial intelligence can independently hack corporate networks and government websites. According to them, hackers use Claude Code to carry out cyberattacks with virtually no human intervention. In one documented case, the AI needed just 20 minutes to gain access to a key employee access management system and steal credentials.

Using AI, attackers also managed to hack more than 15 medical facilities in Argentina and attack government organizations in several other countries. Meanwhile, hackers have learned to bypass the AI’s built-in safeguards, so now just a single command is enough to launch an attack of this kind.

Yandex's press service reported that all three of the company's supercomputers—Lyapunov, Chervonenkis, and Galushkin—were undamaged in the attacks on data centers. The equipment was moved to new sites, and the company intends to continue operating it. Against this backdrop, the company's shares rose by 1.5%.

Shares of Astra Group fell by 2% after reports of a possible hack of VMmanager — the company’s server management system.

Several hosting providers reported the incident. According to RBC, provider FirstVDS sent its clients a notice about the hack on October 18, stating that on some servers attackers had launched a program to steal data.

According to information on the developer’s website, around 30 organizations use VMmanager services. These include PSB Hosting, 4VPS, OBLAKO.RU, Alef-Bank, Kuban Electricity Networks, Ural Federal University, the Tomsk Region Medical Information and Analytical Center, as well as a number of medical centers of the Ministry of Health.

Sber’s updated ranking recorded an increase in the average payout rate among mortgage insurers to 40.5%. The list has grown to 18 companies, with Sovcombank Insurance and RSO Euroins added. Sber Life Insurance ranks first, with a payout rate of 93%, followed by SOGAZ at 59% and Sovcombank Insurance at 50%. Meanwhile, according to the Central Bank, the average rate for credit life insurance overall was just 3% in 2025.

To give up work for good and live solely on bank interest, a Russian would need capital of 14 million rubles. Invested at an annual interest rate of 10%, this amount could generate around 100,000 rubles a month in “net” income. However, economists have calculated that to prevent inflation from eating away at this capital over time, it would be better to have around 25 million rubles in the account.

BTC Michael Saylor stated that BTC is “definitely returning to six figures.”

The Federal Tax Service has begun sending Russians inquiries concerning real estate and bank accounts in the UAE. The tax authority is reviewing transactions made in Dubai since 2023 and is asking citizens to explain the source of their funds, confirm their tax residency, and provide the relevant documents.

The combined market capitalization of Germany’s “Big Three” automakers—BMW, VW, and Mercedes—is just €106 billion. By comparison, Tesla is valued at €1.4 trillion, 13 times more than the combined value of the three German groups.

Meanwhile, the profitability of German automakers has fallen to a shocking 2–3%.

Management Company Pervaya has launched the first exchange-traded fund of securitization bonds available to non-qualified investors. The new exchange-traded mutual fund is called “Smart Capital” and trades under the ticker SECR. Its assets comprise securities backed by loan payments, primarily consumer loans. The fund is actively managed, and its initial unit price is set at 10 rubles.

The market for these types of instruments is growing: in the first nine months, placements of non-mortgage securitized bonds on the Moscow Exchange reached nearly 600 billion rubles, more than 1.5 times the figure for the same period a year earlier.

In Moscow, security forces used a sledgehammer to break into the offices of crypto exchanges. During the search, two more couriers arrived with 3 million rubles in cash and were arrested on the spot. According to police, scammers used these exchanges to convert money stolen from people into cryptocurrency.

The investigation was prompted by a case in which a 73-year-old pensioner transferred more than 13 million rubles to scammers. Five employees of the crypto exchanges were arrested as a result of the operation.

Moscow is gradually moving towards a polycentric development model, prompting businesses and investors to consider the right strategy.

New transport hubs, residential complexes and business clusters are emerging across the city. One of the largest projects is South Port in Pechatniki, already being compared to a future third centre of the capital, alongside Moscow City and the historic centre.

Around 1.6 million square metres of real estate are planned for the site of the former industrial zone. Timing is key: active development of the area is expected to begin closer to 2030, while the cluster may take 15–20 years to fully form.

For investors, this is a classic early-entry strategy: an opportunity to invest in a location before its full potential is reflected in property prices. According to Ricci, the average price per square metre of office space in the Southern River Terminal area is currently 23% below the market average.

Moscow City has already followed a similar trajectory: from 2006 to 2025, the weighted average office sale price there grew almost 2.8 times.

This raises the question: what can businesses do if they are not prepared to wait 10–15 years for a new cluster to take shape?

One option is Business Center Riva, located near the Southern River Terminal and already offering Class A offices.

The 18-storey building stands on the first line of the Moskva River, and every office has a river view. The project features flexible layouts, panoramic glazing, a spacious lobby with a double-height space, a coworking area and places to relax.

The building was designed by Atrium architectural bureau and forms part of a unified development that includes the Dream Riva residential quarter and a hotel. Technopark metro station is about a 9-minute walk away.

This creates an interesting strategy: the Southern River Terminal is a bet on the future, while Riva offers the opportunity to work in this promising location today.

Leasing is now open for offices at Business Center Riva.

The preferential mortgage program for IT specialists may be scrapped as early as this year, according to sources cited by RBC. The Ministry of Digital Development said it is currently seeking funding for the program “amid limited budgetary resources.”