to him following his multiple bankruptcies . Trump ’s de facto campaign manager , Paul Manafort , was a longtime consultant to Viktor Yanukovich , the Russian - backed president of Ukraine who was overthrown in 2014 . Manafort also has done multimillion - dollar business deals with Russian oligarchs .
Retail sales in June shrank for a record 18th month , plunging 5.9 percent from a year earlier , the Federal Statistics Service in Moscow said on Tuesday . “ It ’s not possible for consumption to expand , ” said Dmitry Polevoy , chief economist for Russia at ING Groep NV in Moscow . “ Salaries are n’t growing or are growing much more moderately than they used to , lendingtransaction.transfermoney.nais declining . ” As Russia pivots from a consumer - driven growth model after the crash in oil prices , the crisis is decimating the middle class and millions are sinking into poverty . Not even better consumer confidence and stabilizing inflation are translating into stronger demand .