Gross Domestic Product and Federal Statistics Service

Federal Statistics Service: Gross domestic product advanced 0.8 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier after 0.9 percent growth in the first three months of the year, the Federal Statistics Service said today in an e-mailed statement, citing preliminary data. The Economy Ministry in Moscow had projected 1.1 percent expansion. GDP growth in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic probably slowed in the April-June period on a quarterly basis, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, according to Business Week. Regional economies from the Baltics to Poland will be much more affected by the food ban that Russia imposed than Russias slowdown, Ivan Tchakarov, an economist at Citigroup Inc. in Moscow, said by e-mail. Russias risks of recession are certainly higher for the second half of the year as we suspect that investment spending will re-enter negative territory while consumer spending may continue to slow on the higher inflation, including because of the food import ban. Forint, Ruble Russias economic growth slumped to the weakest in five quarters, underlining the risks to a recovery in the region as President Vladimir Putin retaliates after penalties imposed over the deepening conflict in Ukraine. The economies of former Soviet satellites are getting caught up in the crossfire of sanctions, compounding months of sagging Russian demand for their exports, after Putin slapped import bans on an array of foods last week. The fallout is ricocheting, with Finland, Poland and Lithuania planning to ask the European Union for compensation to ease the economic pain. Waging Financial War (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.