A less common case occurred in a Siberian city where a local commodity exchange was targeted by a disgruntled Russian man who had a message for President Vladimir Putin after the dollar ended up worth more than 100 rubles.

Banknote with a denomination of 100 rublesPhoto: Yevhen Sambulov / Panthermedia / Profimedia Images

A person hijacked a news feed above a stock exchange in Surgut, a city in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug in Central Siberia, and a disgruntled Russian released a message:

“Putin is a bastard and a thief. 100 rubles for a dollar – you’re out of your mind.”

Journalist Max Seddon, head of the Moscow editorial office of the Financial Times, noticed the situation on his Twitter page, reminding that Surgut is a city with oil production activities.

It seems that the incident happened on Sunday evening, before further devaluation of the ruble. On Monday morning, at the opening of the exchanges, the exchange rate exceeded 101 rubles per dollar.

The devaluation of the ruble has been criticized on Russian television since last week, as Russia’s national currency has been steadily depreciating since the end of 2022.

The dynamics of the ruble exchange rate causes dissatisfaction in the Kremlin

Also on Monday, the Kremlin issued a rare criticism of Russia’s Central Bank, headed by technocrat Elvira Nabiullina, saying it was responsible for the depreciation of the national currency.

“The main source of the depreciation of the ruble and the acceleration of inflation is soft monetary policy,” Maxim Oreshkin, an economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin, said in an editorial published by TASS, Russia’s most prominent state-run news agency.

He noted that “the central bank has all the tools to normalize the situation in the near future and ensure the reduction of interest rates at which loans are offered to a sustainable level.”

“It is in the interests of the Russian economy to have a strong ruble,” said Putin’s adviser.

Her criticism is surprising because Elvira Nabiullina is believed to be one of the few Russian officials whom President Vladimir Putin fully trusts.

Before being appointed to this position in 2013, Nabiullina was Putin’s adviser on economic issues for 2 years, now Oreshkin has taken over this role. Since 2000, when Putin came to power, Nabiullina has continuously held various high positions in the Russian administration.

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