The economist explained the strengthening of the ruble by the growth of exports to China and India

The strengthening of the ruble is more related to a stable trade balance than to geopolitical factors. This opinion was expressed by economist Lazar Badalov in an interview with Izvestia on November 21.

He did not rule out that geopolitics could influence the exchange rate, but the flow of exports and imports is still a more significant and significant factor.

"The fact that recently there have been toughenings related to various fees, taxes, duties, leads to a decrease in demand for imports, while export revenue remains stable," the expert adds.

On the decline: the dollar exchange rate dropped below 80 rubles

Non-political factors are leading the way among the reasons for the strengthening of the Russian currency

Thus, according to the economist, the balance of supply and demand for the currency determines the current appreciation of the ruble.

Mikhail Khachaturyan, PhD in Economics and Associate Professor of the Department of Strategic and Innovative Development at the Financial University, agrees that the news of geopolitics could have an impact on the strengthening of the ruble relative to other currencies. However, he adds that this crane effect is negligible.

"To a greater extent, the strengthening of the ruble is due to the recovery in Russian oil purchases by China and India, especially India. Their decline was observed in late October and the first decade of November against the background of the introduction of US sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft. To date, the issues with the supplies themselves and payment formats have been resolved, the volume of purchases is growing, and this is reflected in the ruble exchange rate," the expert explains.

Another factor pushing the ruble up, in his opinion, is the growth in non-primary exports, which, according to the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance, amounted to $111.4 billion in November 2025, which is 6% more than a year earlier. Industrial and agricultural exports made the largest contribution to this growth ($85.4 billion and $26 billion, respectively).

"It is the receipts of these revenues that support the strengthening of the ruble. The geopolitical agenda has its influence, but it is extremely insignificant. And this is certainly a positive development, indicating that the Russian financial market is showing a more sober view of extremely volatile non—economic factors," the expert concludes.

On October 29, the head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, said that the weakening of the ruble against the dollar is a pro-inflationary factor. According to her, a stable and strong ruble is possible only with a stable and strong economy. The head of the Central Bank also recalled that the ruble has strengthened by about 10% this year.%

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.