Russia - Crisis spares Russia's 'average Joe - by Fred Weir
While many Americans are watching as their pensions crash with the markets, across Russia it's a different story. Though their stock market crash has been longer and deeper than in almost any other country, most Russians remain relatively unaffected. Meanwhile, Russia's wealthiest man, aluminum king Oleg Deripaska, has reportedly lost $16 billion over the past month.While Russian industrial barons are falling like kingpins, the government has maintained a budget surplus thanks to oil revenues and sovereign debts paid off by former President Vladimir Putin. Additionally, the general population has also been largely protected due to outmoded financial practices and social beliefs that kept pensions separate from the stock market. The varied effects of the market crisis are likely to alter the underpinnings of Russian society, say many Russian economic analysts. "The Russian economy will survive this crisis, but will emerge greatly changed," says Olga Kryshtanovskaya, director of the independent Institute of Applied Politics.
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