User talk:Rohith1235

More than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia is now trying to further develop a market economy and achieve more consistent economic growth. Russia saw its comparatively developed centrally planned economy contract severely for five years, as the executive and the legislature dithered over the implementation of reforms and Russia's aging industrial base faced a serious decline.

Crash After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia's first slight recovery, showing signs of open-market influence, occurred in 1997. That year, however, the Asian financial crisis culminated in the August depreciation of the ruble. This was followed by a debt default by the government in 1998, and a sharp deterioration in living standards for most of the population. Consequently, 1998 was marked by recession and an intense capital flight.

Recovery Alexei Kudrin, Russian finance minister.Nevertheless, the economy started recovering in 1999. The recovery was greatly assisted by the weak ruble, which made imports expensive and boosted local production. Then it entered a phase of rapid economic expansion, the GDP growing by an average of 6.7% annually in 1999–2005 on the back of higher petroleum prices, a weaker ruble, and increasing service production and industrial output. The country is presently running a huge trade surplus, which has been helped by protective import barriers, and rampant corruption which ensures that it is almost impossible for foreign and local SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) to import goods without the help of local specialist import firms, such as the Russia Import Company. Some import barriers are expected to be abolished after Russia's accession to the WTO.

The recent recovery, made possible due to high world oil prices, along with a renewed government effort in 2000 and 2001 to advance lagging structural reforms, has raised business and investor confidence over Russia's prospects in its second decade of transition. Russia remains heavily dependent on exports of commodities, particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and timber, which account for about 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. Industrial military exports after undergoing sharp contraction is now the major non-commodity export. In recent years, however, the economy has also been driven by growing internal consumer demand that has increased by over 12% annually in 2000–2005, showing the strengthening of its own internal market.

The economic development of the country has been extremely uneven: the Moscow region contributes one-third of the country's GDP while having only a tenth of its population. GDP increased by 7.2% in 2004 and 6.4% in 2005.

Recent economy The country's GDP (PPP) soared to $1.5 trillion in 2004, making it the ninth largest economy in the world and the fifth largest in Europe. If the current growth rate is sustained, the country is expected to become the second largest European economy after Germany and the sixth largest in the world within a few years.

In 2005, according to the Federal Service of State Statistics, GDP reached $765 billion nominally (21.7 trillion rubles), equal to $1.6 trillion in international dollars (PPP; purchasing power parity). Inflation was 10.9% percent. Expenditures of the consolidated budget have reached 5942 billion rubles ($215 billion). The government plans to reduce the tax burden, although the time and scale of such a reduction remains undecided.

1000 ruble note, depicting Yaroslavl.In 2005 Russia exported 241.3 billion dollars and imported 98.5 billion dollars. This means that Russia registered a trade surplus of 142.8 billion dollars in 2005, up about 33% from 2004's foreign trade surplus of $106.1 billion dollars.

By August 17, 2006, Russia's international reserves reached $277 billion nominally and projected to grow to $320 billion by the end of this year and to $350–450 billion by the end of 2007 [3][4].

Thanks to high oil prices, Russian oil exports totaled $117 billion in 2005 while gas exports totaled $32 billion in the same year. That means that oil and gas made up 60% of total Russian exports in 2005.

Knowing the importance of oil and gas to the economy, a Stabilization Fund was formed by the government in January 2004. This fund takes in windfall revenues from oil and gas exports and is designed to help offset oil market volatility. This fund was also set up in order to prevent the ruble from appreciating. The Stabilization Fund (SF) grew to $76.6 billion in November 2006. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said in October 2006 the fund will continue to increase over the coming years, and will exceed $149 billion by late 2007 and about $260.4 billion by the end of 2009. Russia is paying off its foreign debt mainly from the Stabilization Fund, which hit $76.9 billion as of July 1. Russia repaid the bulk of its outstanding debt to the Paris Club of Creditor Nations on August 18-21. The debt totaled $1.9 billion as of October 1, compared to $23.7 billion on July 1. [5]

According to the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia, the monthly nominal average salary in June 2006 was about 10,975 rubles (about $408 nominally; about $740 PPP), 25.6 percent higher than in June 2005 and 7 percent more than in May 2006.

For the year of 2007, Russia's GDP is projected to grow to about $1.2 trillion nominally (31.2 billion rubles) [6]

Challenge Some perceive the greatest challenge facing the Russian economy to be encouraging the development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in a business climate with a young and less-than-sufficient functional banking system. Few of Russia's banks are owned by oligarchs, who often use the deposits to lend to their own businesses. The 2005 Milken Institute's ratings place Russia at the 51st place in the world, out of 121 countries by the availability of capital.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank have attempted to kick-start normal banking practices by making equity and debt investments in a number of banks, but with very limited success.

However, about twenty-five of the biggest banks of Russia get entry into Top 1000 banks of the world by The Banker [7]. Many more Russian banks have very high international ratings by Moody's and Fitch, including "investment" level.

Other problems include disproportional economic development of Russia's own regions. While the huge capital region of Moscow is a bustling, affluent metropolis living on the cutting edge of technology with a per capita income rapidly approaching that of the leading Eurozone economies, much of the country, especially its indigenous and rural communities in Asia, lags significantly behind. Market integration is nonetheless making itself felt in some other sizeable cities such as Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and Ekaterinburg, and recently also in the adjacent rural areas.

The arrest of Russia's wealthiest businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky on charges of fraud and corruption in relation to the large-scale privatizations organized under then-President Yeltsin, contrary to some expectations, has not caused most foreign investors to worry about the stability of the Russian economy. Most of the large fortunes currently in evidence in Russia are the product of either acquiring government assets at particularly low costs or gaining concessions from the government. Other countries have expressed concerns and worries at the "selective" application of the law against individual businessmen, though government actions have been received positively in Russia.

Prospect Tomsk State University.Encouraging foreign investment is also a major challenge due to legal, cultural, linguistic, economic and political peculiarities of the country. Nevertheless, there has been a significant inflow of capital in recent years from many European investors attracted by cheaper land, labor and higher growth rates than in the rest of Europe.

Very high levels of education and societal involvement achieved by the majority of the population, including women and minorities, secular attitudes, mobile class structure, and better integration of various minorities into the mainstream culture set Russia far apart from the majority of the so-called developing countries and even some developed nations.

The country is also benefiting from rising oil prices and has been able very substantially to reduce its formerly huge foreign debt. However, equal redistribution of capital gains from the natural resource industries to other sectors is still a problem. Nonetheless, since 2003, exports of natural resources started decreasing in economic importance as the internal market has strengthened considerably, largely stimulated by intense construction, as well as consumption of increasingly diverse goods and services. Yet teaching customers and encouraging consumer spending is a relatively tough task for many provincial areas where consumer demand is primitive. However, some laudable progress has been made in larger cities, especially in the clothing, food, and entertainment industries.

Additionally, some international firms are investing in Russia. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Russia had nearly $26 billion in cumulative foreign direct investment inflows during the period (of which $11.7 billion occurred in 2004).

Russia faces considerable income inequalities that hinder Russia's potential to become a more diversified economy.

Demographics Main article: Demographics of Russia Kazan Kremlin harmoniously combines elements of Eastern Orthodox and Muslim cultures.Despite its comparatively high population, Russia has a low average population density due to its enormous size. Population is densest in the European part of Russia, in the Ural Mountains area, and in the south-western parts of Siberia; the south-eastern part of Siberia that meets the Pacific Ocean, known as the Russian Far East, is sparsely populated, with its southern part being densest. The Russian Federation is home to as many as 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples. As of the Russian census (2002), 79.8% of the population is ethnically Russian, 3.8% Tatar, 2% Ukrainian, 1.2% Bashkir, 1.1% Chuvash, 0.9% Chechen, 0.8% Armenian. The remaining 10.3% includes those who did not specify their ethnicity as well as (in alphabetical order) Assyrians, Avars, Azeris, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Buryats, Chinese, Cossacks, Estonians, Evenks, Finns, Georgians, Germans, Greeks, Ingushes, Inuit, Jews, Kalmyks, Karelians, Kazakhs, Koreans, Kyrgyz, Lithuanians, Latvians, Maris, Mongolians, Mordvins, Nenetses, Ossetians, Poles, Romanians, Tajiks, Tuvans, Turkmen, Udmurts, Uzbeks, Yakuts, and others. Nearly all of these groups live compactly in their respective regions; Russians are the only people significantly represented in every region of the country.

The Russian language is the only official state language, but the individual republics have often made their native language co-official next to Russian. The Cyrillic alphabet is the only official script, which means that these languages must be written in Cyrillic in official texts.

The Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant Christian religion in the Federation. Islam is the second most widespread religion. Hindus make up a small but fast-growing minority, particularly followers of the ISKCON movement. Other religions include various Protestant churches, Judaism, Roman Catholicism and Buddhism. Induction into religion takes place primarily along ethnic lines. Ethnic Russians are mainly Orthodox whereas most people of Turkic and Caucasian extraction are Sunni Muslim. Kalmyks are the only predominantly Buddhist people in Europe.

Culture Main article: Culture of Russia Cinema of Russia Russian traditions and superstitions Ethnic Russian music List of Russians Music of Russia Russian architecture Russian cuisine Russian humour Russian literature Russian-language poets Russian formalism Russian folklore

Etymology See wiktionary: Russia for the name in various languages. Main article: Etymology of Rus and derivatives The name of the country derives from the name of the Rus' people. The origin of the people itself and of their name is a matter of some controversy.

See also

Miscellaneous Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Communications Companies Education Foreign relations Great power Law Postal history and stamps Public holidays Quartet on the Middle East Roman Catholicism Russian Association of Scouts/Navigators Russian-language TV channels Tourism Transport Category:Russian diaspora

Peoples Ket people Nenets people Tuvan people

References Russia Portal ^ From Article 1 of Constitution of Russia: "The names "Russian Federation" and "Russia" shall be equivalent." ^ (Russian) Влияют ли переселенцы на язык СМИ?. Lenizdat.ru (2006-05-31). Roderic Lyne, Strobe Talbott, Koji Watanabe: Engaging With Russia – The Next Phase, A Report to The Trilateral Commission; Washington, Paris, Tokyo; 2006 The New Columbia Encyclopedia, Col.Univ.Press, 1975 World Civilizations:The Global Experience, by Peter Stearns, Michael Adas, Stuart Schwartz, and Marc Gilbert Russia for Dummies, India Lambert, 1975

External links Find more information on Russia by searching Wikipedia's sister projects:

Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary Textbooks from Wikibooks Quotations from Wikiquote Source texts from Wikisource Images and media from Commons News stories from Wikinews Learning resources from Wikiversity

Government resources (Russian) Duma - Official site of the parliamentary lower house Federative Council - Official site of the parliamentary upper house Kremlin - Official presidential site (Russian) Gov.ru - Official governmental portal (Russian) Russian Federation Today - Official issue of the Federal Assembly Russian Federal Customs Service Central Bank of Russia

General information Russian Life Magazine: the 50-year-young magazine of Russian culture, history and life Russia Profile - English Internet Magazine on Politics, Business and Culture in Russia Internet Blog on Russian Issues in English Russian News Agency Ria Novosti Russia photo gallery and city guide Culture of Russia - with support of Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography (Russian) Encyclopaedia Britannica's Country Portal site BBC Country Profile - Russia Russian Space Program CIA World Factbook - Russia News From Russia U.S. State Department Consular Information Sheet: Russia Russia Energy Resources and Industry from U.S. Department of Energy Russia History Timeline 1533 - 1991

v • d • eCountries of Europe[show] Albania • Andorra • Austria • Azerbaijan1 • Belarus • Belgium • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Bulgaria • Croatia • Czech Republic • Denmark2 • Estonia • Finland • France2 • Georgia1 • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Italy • Kazakhstan1 • Latvia • Liechtenstein • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Republic of Macedonia • Malta • Moldova • Monaco • Montenegro • Netherlands2 • Norway2 • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Russia1 • San Marino • Serbia • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • Turkey1 • Ukraine • United Kingdom2 • Vatican City

1 Has significant territory in Asia. 2 Has dependencies or similar territory outside Europe.

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For unrecognized States, see the list concerned.

1 Partly in Europe. 2 Partly or wholly reckoned in Oceania. 3 Partly in Africa. 4 The Republic of China is not officially recognized by the United Nations; see Political status of Taiwan.

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v • d • eGroup of Eight (G8)[show] Canada · France ·  Germany ·  Italy ·  Japan ·  Russia ·  United Kingdom ·  United States

v • d • eUN Security Council Members[show] Permanent Members: China • France • Russia • United Kingdom • United States

Term ending 31 December 2006: Argentina • Denmark • Greece • Japan • Tanzania

Term ending 31 December 2007: Congo-Brazzaville • Ghana • Peru • Qatar • Slovakia v • d • eCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS)[show] Armenia • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Georgia • Kazakhstan • Kyrgyzstan • Moldova • Russia • Tajikistan • Ukraine • Uzbekistan

Associate Member: Turkmenistan

v • d • eOrganization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)[show] Afghanistan • Albania • Algeria • Azerbaijan • Bahrain • Bangladesh • Benin • Burkina Faso • Brunei • Cameroon • Chad • Comoros • Côte d'Ivoire • Djibouti • Egypt • Gabon • Gambia • Guinea • Guinea-Bissau • Guyana • Indonesia • Iran • Iraq • Jordan • Kuwait • Kazakhstan • Kyrgyzstan • Lebanon • Libya • Maldives • Malaysia • Mali • Mauritania • Morocco • Mozambique • Niger • Nigeria • Oman • Pakistan • State of Palestine • Qatar • Saudi Arabia • Senegal • Sierra Leone • Somalia • Sudan • Surinam • Syria • Tajikistan • Turkey • Tunisia • Togo • Turkmenistan • Uganda • Uzbekistan • United Arab Emirates • Yemen

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v • d • eBlack Sea Economic Cooperation[show] Albania • Armenia • Azerbaijan • Bulgaria • Georgia • Greece • Moldova • Romania • Russia • Serbia • Turkey • Ukraine

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v • d • eSlavic-speaking nations[show] West Slavic: Czech Republic •  Poland •  Slovakia

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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia" Categories: Semi-protected from banned users | European countries | Black Sea countries | Caspian Sea countries | G8 nations | Russia

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