Aug 25 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble steadied on Friday as exporters prepared to pay month-end taxes, with traders keeping an eye on developments after the presumed death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, in a plane crash.
Russia's most powerful mercenary, Prigozhin was on board a plane that crashed on Wednesday evening north of Moscow with no survivors, Russian authorities said, two months to the day after he led an abortive mutiny against the army top brass.
At 0806, the rouble was 0.1% stronger against the dollar at 94.79 and had gained 0.5% to trade at 102.13 versus the euro. It was steady against the yuan at 12.98.
Prigozhin's presumed death leaves Russian President Vladimir Putin stronger in the short term, removing a powerful figure who had defied his authority and threatened to make him look weak, but deprives him of a forceful military player.
But Prigozhin's influence in Russia has dwindled since the mutiny, meaning volatility for the rouble from his possible death is likely to be limited, said Grzegorz Drozdz, market analyst at investment company Conotoxia.
"Russia's central bank and regulators are currently trying to rescue the rouble," he said. "It seems that one of the biggest problems for the Russian currency is the actions of exporters who hold their foreign exchange reserves in the Chinese yuan or Indian rupee, among others."
The rouble strengthened sharply last week after hitting a near 17-month low of 101.75 to the dollar, as the central bank hiked its key rate by 350 basis points to 12% and exporters increased selling of their foreign currency revenue following discussions with Russian authorities.
The rouble should be supported by month-end tax payments, where exporters usually convert foreign currency revenues into roubles to meet local liabilities. The peak of those payments falls on Monday, but some analysts have said last week's FX selling increase may have already met their rouble needs.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.7% at $83.98 a barrel.
Russian stock indexes were higher.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.2% to 1,046.1 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.3% higher at 3,147.2 points. (Reporting by Alexander Marrow Editing by Mark Potter)
