Rouble Price of Goods Rise in Russia as Sales Fall

Companies are raising prices seeking to offset the drop in the value of the sales they make in roubles. While no companies are showing signs of pulling out of Russia, Apple on Dec. 16 halted online sales there - just three weeks after boosting the price of an iPhone 6 by about 25 percent to 39,990 roubles. The value of that iPhone sale when converted into dollars already has plummeted to about $585 from $847.

The same has happened to other companies trying to keep pace. On Dec. 3, McDonald’s Corp. raised the price of a Big Mac by 2.2 percent to about 94 roubles - only to see the value of that sale plunge to about $1.35 from $1.77 in the intervening days. Since mid-November, Renault and partner Nissan Motor Co. have lifted prices by 8 percent on cars made by their AvtoVAZ (AVAZ) operation in Russia.