Russia Risks Recession as Oil Drop Seen Squeezing Budget

The easing of tensions in Ukraine will offer little respite to Russia as the lowest oil prices in more than two years threaten to tilt the $2 trillion economy toward recession, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Russia needs Urals, its main export crude blend, to trade at $100 per barrel or higher to avoid a recession, according to 58 percent of respondents in a survey of 19 economists. Given the level of U.S. and European sanctions over Ukraine, at least 19 percent of analysts said the current price is sufficiently low to put Russia’s financial stability at risk.