In the Russian Federation, overdue corporate sector receivables have reached levels not seen since the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. Over the past year, it has increased by 26% – from $79.3 billion to $100 billion. The share of overdue debts in the overall debt structure now stands at 10.3%.
This is reported by Finway
Rapid Deterioration of Payment Discipline
According to Ukrainian intelligence, the total volume of receivables of Russian enterprises remains at $1.6 trillion. However, this apparent stability is misleading, as creditor debt has reached $650.9 billion. The share of overdue obligations has risen from 6.9% to 8.2%, and payment chains are collapsing throughout the economy.
“Russian businesses are sinking deeper into a debt quagmire. Overdue corporate sector receivables have increased by 26% – from $79.3 billion to $100 billion – and their share in the overall structure has reached 10.3%. This is the worst indicator since the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. The Kremlin is methodically destroying what remains of the business climate in the country,” noted the SBU.
Causes of Debt Growth and Impact on Business
The key reason for the increase in defaults, experts say, is the policy of high interest rates. In 2025, average lending rates for businesses in Russia remained at 18–25% per annum, while the average profitability of industries did not exceed 8–12%. Short-term deposits yielded 14–16%, which led enterprises to prefer placing funds in deposits over paying invoices to counterparties. This contributed to the spread of overdue payments throughout the payment chain.
The total financial result of Russian companies in 2025 decreased to $352.1 billion, representing a 4% decline in nominal terms and nearly 13% when accounting for inflation. Despite this, the volume of banking obligations did not decrease.
Small and medium-sized businesses are particularly hard hit: 31% of companies ended the year with significant overdue payments from counterparties, mainly state structures. In 19% of enterprises, invoices went unpaid for over six months, indicating a critical situation in the sector. The state, which is actively mobilizing resources for war and increasing defense spending, is not settling accounts with suppliers, intensifying pressure on businesses.
If at the beginning of 2025, 27% of companies viewed payment issues as a key obstacle to operations, by the end of the year this figure had risen to 42.3%. The business climate in Russia is deteriorating faster than the Kremlin can publicly respond.
Even pro-Kremlin analysts note the rapid increase in defaults since mid-2024. Businesses are increasingly demanding advance payments, indicating the exhaustion of the mutual trust credit market.
Experts predict that defaults in the corporate sector of Russia will take on a systemic nature. The state continues to maintain a high key rate, fails to meet its own payment obligations, and mobilizes human and financial resources for war, effectively destroying the foundations of entrepreneurial activity.
An additional factor of economic pressure remains international sanctions: from 2022 to 2025, Russia spent over $130 billion on circumventing them and purchasing prohibited goods.