A Wave of Corporate Defaults Is Sweeping Across russia

A wave of defaults continues in russia’s corporate bond market. In the first half of 2026, 21 companies experienced difficulties servicing their bonds and digital financial assets for the first time – a 40% increase from last year. In eight of these cases, delinquencies escalated into full-fledged defaults, with two new cases recorded in July alone. Analysts predict that by year-end, the number of technical and full defaults will exceed 50, compared to 24 in 2025.

Construction, leasing, transportation and logistics, retail, and agricultural companies, as well as filling station chain operators, are suffering the most. They are all burdened by high debt levels, a need for working capital, rising costs, and weak demand. Small businesses that previously financed themselves through bonds rather than bank loans have proven especially vulnerable, as they are now unable to raise funds on acceptable terms.

Among specific cases, “agrodom” failed to pay $123,000 in debt, “sibavtotrans” failed to pay $470,000, “sobi leasing” repeatedly delayed payments on several bond issues totaling $4.94 million, while the overdue obligations of the “eurotrans” filling station operator exceeded $2.47 million.

The main reason is the high cost of borrowing. Despite the russian central bank’s reduction of its key rate to 14%, new loans remain expensive: companies with average creditworthiness are borrowing at 16–21% per annum, while financially weak companies are borrowing at 18–25%. Added to this is a decline in profits: in the first quarter of 2026, total corporate profits fell by 26.5%, the share of loss-making companies rose from 31.6% to 36.9%, and the share of borrowers with overdue bank debt reached 26.6%, compared with 21.6% last year.

The repayment schedule is adding to the pressure: in the second half of the year, companies are set to repay $29.66 billion in bonds – by 140% more than a year ago – with a peak of $19.98 billion in the fourth quarter. Formally, the bond issuance market is growing by 31% – to $55.61 billion, but nearly $49.4 billion of that is accounted for by a few of the largest, financially stable players. Excluding these deals, market growth stands at just 6%, which effectively masks the increasingly difficult access to capital for small and medium-sized businesses.

This trend points to a gradual spread of the liquidity shortage beyond large companies. Banks will most likely tighten lending requirements and reduce financing for weaker enterprises, which will complicate debt refinancing and increase the number of new bankruptcies.