RUS · snapshot 2026-08-09

Russian Federation

Very HighOverride applied

Overall risk score

65.8

Percentile of scored universe

84th

Data coverage

90%

vs Australia (16.1)

+49.7

Rated Very High on its own indicators; a gate condition is also flagged.

The Very High rating stands on the computed score of 65.8 (Very High). The flagged condition — Comprehensive Australian autonomous sanctions framework (Russia) — would floor the band at Very High even on weaker data.

Sanctions & banking access

Where sanctions make Russian Federation hard to operate in — under Australian law, under US/EU extraterritorial reach, and in practice at the bank. Comprehensive frameworks force Very High; severe secondary exposure or severed banking floors the band at High; the rest is disclosure.

Australian sanctions

DFAT frameworks that legally restrict Australian companies

Comprehensive framework

Comprehensive Australian autonomous sanctions framework (Russia)

US/EU secondary sanctions

Extraterritorial programs that bind you regardless of Australian law

Severe

CAATSA and EO 14024 secondary sanctions reach non-US banks and firms dealing with designated Russian entities

Banking access

Will correspondent banks actually move your money out

Severed

Major banks disconnected from SWIFT; USD/EUR clearing for Russian counterparties effectively unavailable

Category breakdown

Political Stability & Governance

Very High
80.8+68.1 vs AU

6 indicators · 100% coverage

Economic Resilience

Medium
35.5+24.4 vs AU

6 indicators · 85% coverage

Financial & Currency Risk

Very High
69.3+63.4 vs AU

5 indicators · 100% coverage

Business Environment

Insufficient data
no AU baseline

Insufficient data

Security & Crime

Very High
87.9+62.9 vs AU

4 indicators · 100% coverage

Climate & Social Compliance

High
54.9+44.6 vs AU

4 indicators · 100% coverage

Technology & Digital

Medium
38.5+24.8 vs AU

4 indicators · 100% coverage

Cultural Distance

Very High
77.5+76.6 vs AU

9 indicators · 100% coverage · not in overall score

Key risks and considerations

Russian Federation rates Very High for market entry — an overall risk score of 65.8, riskier than 84% of rated economies and 50 points riskier than Australia.

The rating is forced to Very High by an override: Comprehensive Australian autonomous sanctions framework (Russia). Whatever the underlying arithmetic says, this market is effectively closed to routine Australian business.

Beyond the Australian framework, US/EU secondary sanctions apply in force: CAATSA and EO 14024 secondary sanctions reach non-US banks and firms dealing with designated Russian entities. Further, in practice the banking channel is severed: Major banks disconnected from SWIFT; USD/EUR clearing for Russian counterparties effectively unavailable.

The main risk drivers are no investment-treaty protection with Australia, high modern-slavery prevalence (13.0 per 1,000), DFAT travel advice at Level 4 — Do not travel, significant cybercrime origination (WCI 58.4/100) and elevated sovereign credit risk (OECD Category 7 / 7).

Relative strengths: physical climate vulnerability sits in the least-risky quarter of rated economies, and government net debt and current account both rate Low, the least-risky rating band.

Possible mitigations

  • Sanctions exposure. Screen every counterparty against the DFAT Consolidated List and obtain specialist sanctions advice before any dealings — permits may be required and penalties are strict liability.
  • Duty of care for people. DFAT advises against non-essential travel. Review duty-of-care obligations, prefer remote engagement, and use in-country agents rather than travelling staff where possible.
  • Political violence. Consider political-violence and political-risk insurance, keep asset footprints light, and maintain an exit/continuity plan with defined triggers.
  • Organised crime. Expect extortion, counterfeiting, and cargo-theft exposure: harden supply-chain security, vet logistics partners and distributors carefully, and avoid cash-heavy channels.
  • Corruption and legal recourse. Run a strong anti-bribery program (Australian foreign-bribery law follows you abroad), conduct third-party due diligence, and seat dispute resolution offshore — arbitration clauses (e.g. SIAC or HKIAC) beat local courts.
  • Getting money out. Confirm profit-repatriation channels before committing capital: seek central-bank pre-approvals where required, consider an export-first model over an in-country entity, and structure via clear remittance jurisdictions.

Generated automatically from this snapshot’s indicator data — a starting point for analysis, not advice.

Indicators

IndicatorValueRisk scoreRating
Political Stability & Governance
Voice & accountability (WGI)32.088.0Very High
Government effectiveness (WGI)45.164.6High
Regulatory quality (WGI)38.087.6Very High
Rule of law (WGI)37.184.8Very High
Control of corruption (WGI)29.877.1Very High
Political stability & absence of violence/terrorism (WGI PV)50.582.4Very High
Economic Resilience
GDP growth (3-yr average, %)3.3% (3-yr avg)40.0Medium
Growth volatility (10-yr std dev, pp)±2.7 pp32.9Medium
Government net debt (% of GDP)17.210.0Low
Inflation (CPI %, vs income-group target)8.770.0High
Current account (3-yr average, % of GDP)2.3% (3-yr avg)15.0Low
FX reserves (months of import cover)Insufficient data
GDP per capita (PPP, current intl $)$49,56827.4Medium
Financial & Currency Risk
Capital-account openness (Chinn-Ito KAOPEN)0.1678.0Very High
Currency stability (regime-aware classification)Floating — high volatility (20–35%)75.0Very High
Sovereign credit risk (OECD country risk classification)Category 7 / 792.0Very High
FATF listing (grey / black list status)Not listed0.0Low
Double-tax agreement with AustraliaIn force0.0Low
Business Environment
FDI regulatory restrictiveness (OECD FDIRRI)Insufficient data
Logistics performance (World Bank LPI)2.665.6High
Business readiness (World Bank B-READY pillar average)Insufficient data
Investment protection with Australia in force (BIT or FTA investment chapter)None in force100.0Very High
Security & Crime
Armed-conflict intensity (battle deaths per 100k, 5-yr)2.191.0Very High
Intentional homicide rate (per 100k)6.873.4High
Organised crime pervasiveness (GI-TOC criminality score)6.988.8Very High
DFAT Smartraveller advisory levelLevel 4 — Do not travel95.0Very High
Climate & Social Compliance
Physical climate vulnerability (ND-GAIN vulnerability)0.3105.0Low
Disaster risk (INFORM Risk Index)4.466.0High
Modern-slavery prevalence (per 1,000)13.095.3Very High
Modern-slavery vulnerability score59.975.3Very High
Technology & Digital
E-government development (UN EGDI)0.922.0Low
Internet users (% of population)94.416.4Low
Cybercrime origination (World Cybercrime Index)58.495.0Very High
Secure internet servers (per million people)26105.320.2Low

Per-indicator ratings are quartile bands of the 0–100 risk score. The Australia column shows the same indicator’s raw value for the Australian baseline in this snapshot.

Cultural distance

GLOBE 2004 societal practices · rated on distance from Australia · not in the overall score

Russian FederationAustraliaGLOBE practice score · scale 1–7
Power distanceVery High
5.52
4.74
Uncertainty avoidanceVery High
2.88
4.39
Institutional collectivismMedium
4.50
4.29
In-group collectivismHigh
5.63
4.17
Humane orientationMedium
3.94
4.28
Performance orientationVery High
3.39
4.36
AssertivenessVery High
3.68
4.28
Gender egalitarianismVery High
4.07
3.40
Future orientationVery High
2.88
4.09

Context — not scored

Unemployment

2.1%

Displayed, never scored: ambiguous for an entrant and unreliable where informal employment dominates. (2025, ILO modelled)

Trade agreement

No Australian FTA in force

Market access is decision-relevant but a benefit, not a risk — kept out of the rating.

Regional advisories

No higher regional advisory levels

DFAT Smartraveller sub-national advice where it exceeds the overall level.

Compare with

A score means little on its own. These economies scored closest to Russian Federation in this snapshot, which is the fastest way to see whether the rating is telling you something specific or something regional.

All 218 economies · How to read these ratings