Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree obligating 43 export companies in the energy, metallurgy, chemical, forestry, and grain industries to sell their foreign currency earnings on the Russian market at rates set by the government. The move comes as Russia seeks to “stabilize the exchange rate” as the ruble has continued to weaken over the past months. The ruble has lost almost half its value over the past year.
They had to exchange foreign currency to rubel, but they used to do it on a “free” market and now it is set by the government.