(Bloomberg) — An exchange rate of 100 to 110 rubles per US dollar is “reasonable” as it balances the interests of the state and exporters, Vladimir Potanin, Russia’s richest man, said on Saturday.
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The range “is something quite reasonable in economic terms, something that the country can live with,” Potanin said in an interview with RBC TV. “This is a kind of balance between budgetary interests and the interests of exporters.”
The ruble slumped after the US sanctioned some 50 Russian banks on Nov. 21, to the lowest level since March 2022. Although the currency has since pared some of those losses and was set at 103.4305 per dollar as of Saturday, the recent depreciation has increased pressure on the central bank to continue raising its key lending rate, which is already at a record 21%.
Western sanctions have complicated financial transactions and logistics for Russian exporters, said Potanin, who is also president of Russia’s biggest miner, MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC.
Nornickel’s working capital ballooned to almost $4 billion at its peak due to the increased costs associated with sanctions, compared with $1 billion in previous years, he said.
Potanin expects anti-crisis measures to help the miner return to positive free cash flow next year, and it won’t distribute dividends until it does so, he said.
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