Russian Economy General News: #6

sepheronx wrote:

Regular wrote:Well Vann, You have to visit Russia more often. When You leave Moscow, Piter, 100 km and You are in the wild frontier. Outside those hubs poverty is crippling, not that is governments fault per se, nothing is given on silver plate anymore. I think few generations of homo sovieticus have die off and more industrious people will emerge.
And Russia can't be completely self sufficient, it's not war time. There are only few countries that are self sufficient and they don't look too good

Edit: Disregard that, Rural only is 27%.

Yet, the poverty rate is below that.  Disregard the BS as well about the whole poverty rate increase because of exchange rate, as that is media sensation and BS.  It went up by 16% in correspondence to the wages, but not the # of poverty stricken people.

Village life I guess would be shit.  Maybe town life is more adequate.

I imagine over time, many of these soviet villages will just die off completely while various smaller towns (10K pop or higher) will end up growing due to the migration process.  Thus these towns will end up building more business to accomodate the growth in population and thus increaseing the amount of wealth distributed in the town.  Villages have a lot less to work around with.  Besides villages that rely entirely on agriculture production and built specifically for agricultural purposes, which exist now since about a year or two ago.

The claims being made about Russia are always over the top and nonsense.  Why would poor villagers in Russia's hinterland have their
standard of living affected by import price increases?   Do they buy imported cars and electronics?   These are exactly the people that
are least affected by the forex change and the current Russian recession.  Please, people, use your brains instead of repeating brazen inanity.

I will second what TheArmenian said, if you go out into the Canadian hinterland you also see a large negative standard of living gradient
from the big cities.  The same is true in the USA.  This is good old capitalism at work, learn to love it.

Best example is going to Dauphin Manitoba.  Brandon Manitoba is very nice in regards of its beauty but still classified as poor compared to lets say Winnipeg.  Dauphin on the other hand is much worst.

Doesnt help that the natives here tend to burn things down like the Ford dealerships (lol).

And yes, KVS is definately correct.

Regular wrote:Well Vann, You have to visit Russia more often. When You leave Moscow, Piter, 100 km and You are in the wild frontier. Outside those hubs poverty is crippling, not that is governments fault per se, nothing is given on silver plate anymore. I think few generations of homo sovieticus have die off and more industrious people will emerge.
And Russia can't be completely self sufficient, it's not war time. There are only few countries that are self sufficient and they don't look too good

Russia have many nice cities ,not just moscow or stpeterburg.. Rostov on don , Sochi ,Ekaterine burg, Kazan.. etc.// more than a dozen very similar to Europe. Russia problem is in the area of business development ,that is not as competitive as the west. US owns the fast foods , the entertainment ,the Semiconductor industry and it is seen as leader somehow in space. is pretty much a complete developed nation with a corrupt government trying to destroy the world. Russia all needs to do is expand the competition to more areas ,different that military and space. Even if Russia do not beat the west in technology ,at least will have an alternative business and alternative technology to anything Russians like to have from the west.

Saudi are burning their reserves , Check this report from Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia's Secret Holdings of U.S. Debt Are Suddenly a Big Deal

Bit of a change from 86 peak last week! Good or bad?

The Russian ruble is trading stronger on the foreign currency market at 76.65 rubles to the dollar and 83.02 to the euro as oil prices increase, according to Monday morning market statistics.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Brent oil is currently trading at $32.40 per barrel.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/russia/20160125/1033654039/ruble-economy-exchange-statistics.html#ixzz3yFh3fP8c

Some good news about foreign investment in Russia. Per the article McDonald's will open more than 60 Russian stores in 2016. Capitalizing on recent market share growth and local suppliers.

McDonald's to expand in Russia

Sounds like McDonald's has learned to compete and thrive in Russia and sees further expansion as likely there.

They are also dumping foreign suppliers too and looking at domestic due to prices, so a bigger win for Russian agriculture.  So that means no GMO BS either.  Russian Rotten Roneys will be healtheir believe it or not.

Although, I want to try Rusburger.

Another data point on the question of what percentage of Russia's total exports do hydrocarbons constitute. Per this article Elvira Nabiullina said:

"Oil exports as a share of Russia’s total goods exports have decreased from 67 percent in late 2013 to 48 percent in December last year."


oil&gas 48% of exports

Not vouching for this number from a woman that many here apparently think is incompetent or a 5th column traitor or both.

Project Canada wrote:Liberals Like Chubais, Kudrin Who Destroyed the Country Have No Place in Russia

Over the top with the hysterical tone. All is lost, woe is us. But the points about the collection of monetarist clowns is correct.
Monetarists do not fully control Russian economic policy but they have excessive influence. Russia is stupid this way. It imports
fads from the west and never looks at whether those fads have any traction in the west. That is the first thing that it should do
if it does not want to be a social engineering experiment disaster zone for all time.

Kudrin had his points but ultimately failed to do his job properly.  Same goes for Chubais.  Good thing thoigh is Rusnano at least invests in Russia so there is real development, regardless how Chubais sucked before.  Kudrin has no redeaming qualities.  

This article was very doom and gloom and what was actually said at Davos doesnt quite reflect that, most went on to state that things arent that bad and a change is needed.  The article posted does make sense about getting rid of these people, but at same time, it uses hysteria to get that point accross.

Putin's Biggest Failure: Not Cleaning House

It was Medvedev who fired Kudrin. So I find it interesting about this article to claim the two under the same sphere. Kudrin was closer to Putin.

sepheronx wrote:Putin's Biggest Failure: Not Cleaning House

It was Medvedev who fired Kudrin.  So I find it interesting about this article to claim the two under the same sphere.  Kudrin was closer to Putin.

Putin is not a tyrant like the NATzO propaganda chorus tries to paint him. So he has to live with the influence exerted by the new Russian
elite that formed under Yeltsin. Teddy Roosevelt kicked some gilded era oligarch ass but did not remove them from their de facto position of
power. The interesting thing is why the Russian elite is not sucking Uncle Scam's schlong. By all indications they should have been Washington
bootlicks. Kudrin and pals for sure are. The situation in Russia is more complex than it would appear from all the nonsense mass media coverage.
Putin can't engage in Stalinist type purges.

kvs wrote:

sepheronx wrote:Putin's Biggest Failure: Not Cleaning House

It was Medvedev who fired Kudrin.  So I find it interesting about this article to claim the two under the same sphere.  Kudrin was closer to Putin.

Putin is not a tyrant like the NATzO propaganda chorus tries to paint him.  So he has to live with the influence exerted by the new Russian
elite that formed under Yeltsin.    Teddy Roosevelt kicked some gilded era oligarch ass but did not remove them from their de facto position of
power.   The interesting thing is why the Russian elite is not sucking Uncle Scam's schlong.   By all indications they should have been Washington
bootlicks.   Kudrin and pals for sure are.   The situation in Russia is more complex than it would appear from all the nonsense mass media coverage.
Putin can't engage in Stalinist type purges.

There are also communists or communist sympathizers, there are also Oligarches who do not want the western rule as it would eat at their own business. Then of course, there are the nationalists as well. No, I do not mean the die hard racist type, but the ones who are die hard about their own country. Dunno if they have major wealth, but many of them have social influences.

Interesting video about the tricks used by Russian Billionaires traitors to avoid paying taxes
in Russia.  


Great interview: Are foreign consultants engaged in industrial espionage and subversion in Russia?

Vann7 wrote:Interesting video about the tricks used by Russian Billionaires traitors to avoid paying taxes
in Russia.  


Great interview: Are foreign consultants engaged in industrial espionage and subversion in Russia?

Hey, great find vann. Is it OK I post this on the website and give credit to you?

As well, to add to this, if you were on MP.net, there was a certain Russian member whom was from Vladivostok. He wasn't a bad guy per se, but he did admit to doing grey book keeping or something along those lines. Essentially, his accountant would fudge numbers in order to prevent paying certain taxes. This guy would complain how bad it is in Vladivostok, yet owned 3 cars, had a fairly large home and all for having a designer company.....

Anyway, we have people in Canada whom do the exact same type of auditing methods. So I do not think it is a way to aim to destabilize Russia unless whomever these groups are, are aiming to destabilize most countries:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-biggest-tax-scam-ever-20140827

Essentially, these are the same people.

But, the guy in the video is doing the right thing. Pointing these issues out, and being part of an organization in dealing with other groups whom try to cause harm to Russia, especially economically.

[quote="sepheronx"]

Vann7 wrote:Interesting video about the tricks used by Russian Billionaires traitors to avoid paying taxes
in Russia.  


Great interview: Are foreign consultants engaged in industrial espionage and subversion in Russia?

.....................

Hey, great find vann.  Is it OK I post this on the website and give credit to you?

As well, to add to this, if you were on MP.net, there was a certain Russian member whom was from Vladivostok.  He wasn't a bad guy per se, but he did admit to doing grey book keeping or something along those lines.  Essentially, his accountant would fudge numbers in order to prevent paying certain taxes.  This guy would complain how bad it is in Vladivostok, yet owned 3 cars, had a fairly large home and all for having a designer company.....

Anyway, we have people in Canada whom do the exact same type of auditing methods.  So I do not think it is a way to aim to destabilize Russia unless whomever these groups are, are aiming to destabilize most countries:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-biggest-tax-scam-ever-20140827

Essentially, these are the same people.

But, the guy in the video is doing the right thing.  Pointing these issues out, and being part of an organization in dealing with other groups whom try to cause harm to Russia, especially economically.

Good call Sepheronx. The first step to curing a sickness is to recognize that it is there in the first place.

I found this after a quick search:

Blowback: Gazprom Rejects PriceWaterhouse in Favor of Russian Agency. More to Come

sepheronx wrote:I found this after a quick search:

Blowback: Gazprom Rejects PriceWaterhouse in Favor of Russian Agency. More to Come

Sure re-post any link you want.. im not the owner of Russia insider.. lol  
i dont care about any credit.. credits goes to that Russian man giving that interview.

For me even more disturbing than the audit thing.. is the fact that Americans Scholars
were full time working in Russian universities as directors and Americans NGOs financing
the most talented students in Russia. helping them in their research and projects , later this talent that the Russian government so painfully had to finance and develop their education, goes and leave Russia and works for Americans in US mainland.  This is like an insult and a major treason. is like as if you were building a house ,for many years..a luxury one,the house of your dreams for you and your wife,  with your hard earned money and when you finally finish it,and give the house to your wife , with pain and blood and many sacrifices. She cheat on you ,
,divorce from you and leave you and goes and live in your house with her new lover. lol

Is disturbing that US sanctions had to happen in Russia ,for the Russian government to start
shutting downs those NGOs and kicking all Americans scholars from Russian Universities
"promoting science". If they wanted to promote "Science" why they dont do it in Africa?
or in Asia? why Russia?  ahhh of course they were looking for stealing Russian talent and Russian minds away of Russia. There should be a law in Russia that education is free with the condition that the students stay in Russia , but that anyone who choose the easy way and abandon ship once the government broke its back ,then they or they families will have a debt with the government for all those years he received free education/healthcare and government help to study. having western NGOs in Russian universities , is nothing but Scientific spying .
To benefits from the the new generations Russian students talent at the expense of Russia.  

This is why i say.. Putin is a a blessing and a curse at the same time in Russia.
He does a good job in world diplomacy and creating Unity in Russia ,inspiring trust.
Is patriotic and a good man.. but at the same time he is terrible in Business and terrible
predicting Americans next move and stab in the back. and next to useless in promoting
Russian image in the world. Sochi was the only right thing he did well to sell Russia image.

It will do Russia very well if all the top government in Russia speak fluently in English.
specially Putin. That will help to sell the image of Russia that is not a distant planet but a nation that the west can communicate directly. But so far he do not see how important is
projecting an image of being an European and developed nation that is easy to communicate.
Poroshenko speak fluently English and goes and speak in American Universities ,something
that Mr Putin should be doing but the moron do not get it ,that he could do a better job ,getting
the support of American people by speaking directly with them and telling what is really happening in the world and not what their media tells them.

Russia needs a new generation of leaders , people that truly knows how to sell Russia image
in the world but that also have the diplomatic skills and patience and trust of Putin.

Putin might not be cleaning house but he may well be starting to set up his ducks in a row. With the anti West sentiment that the West have generated the timing could be pretty good for such a move.

Looks like a lot of old contracts, agreements and payment evidence is being extracted from dusty filing cabinets. This could be a pretty dangerous move, at the least expect to read about fires in Government record storage facilities!

In order to reduce the level of corruption, it is necessary to seize the property and assets obtained by unlawful means. This statement was made by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the anti-corruption Council, reported RIA Novosti.

"Let me reiterate: the responsibility for reducing the level of corruption in the territories lies with the heads of subjects of the Federation. They need to improve and this anti-corruption mechanism, the withholding and the appeal to the state property purchased with illegal or dubious money, including taking into account international legal norms, should return the assets illegally or unlawfully in other jurisdictions," - said the Russian leader.

According to him, one of the priorities is to increase "the effectiveness of law enforcement in the anti-corruption sphere". "It is necessary to improve the operation of structures that control the expenditure of budgetary funds, it is important at an early stage to identify the personal interest of those who dispose of the budget by unfair means, hiding the facts using bogus companies or affiliates, to eliminate the conflict of interests", - stressed the head of state.

Putin also spoke about the data of polls, according to which citizens positively assessed the work on counter-terrorism being carried out at the Federal level.

http://fortruss.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/putin-we-need-to-confiscate-property.html

Another data point on the issue of the what percentage of the budget  does hydrocarbon related funds make up.

From the linked Bloomberg article:

"Where is the bulk of money made? In oil, gas, metals, other commodities," Putin said in his address to the Russian parliament in April 2001, calling for greater diversification of the Russian economy. At the time, oil and gas generated some 30 percent of federal budget revenues. In 2015, the figure reached 44 percent, according to the Finance ministry....

I have no position on whether these numbers are accurate.

oil & gas are 44% of budget

kvs , spherenox check the stats


Putin: improve the situation in the Russian economy can begin as early as this year

http://tass.ru/ekonomika/2616342

MOSCOW, January 26. / TASS /. In Russia, there are conditions to this year already started rectifying the situation in the economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukaev. "The combination of the budget deficit, which was less than expected, the presence of good reserves, low debt - all this creates favorable conditions to expect to improve the situation in the current year", - Putin said.

As the head of the Economic Development Ministry, the Bank of Russia reserves remained at a high level. "All of this creates an environment of macroeconomic stability, which to properly evaluate all market participants," - said Ulyukayev. According to him, the deepest part of the crisis has been passed by the end of the second quarter of last year, after which there has been a movement in the positive direction. "Really laid a good foundation, it is now necessary to dispose of them wisely. And I think that we will be able to moderate, cautious optimism come a year" - said Ulyukayev.

The minister said that at the end of 2015 the trade surplus was about $ 145 billion, which is slightly less than in previous years due to the exchange rate changes. "Physical volume is not reduced," - said Ulyukayev. "The balance of the current account balance even slightly increased and was even better than our projections. This is due to the fact that seriously diminished by the services. Roughly speaking, our citizens no longer leave their money in Turkey, Egypt and some other countries, began to leave them in Sochi, in the Crimea, in other Russian regions ", - he said.

Ulyukayev also said that Russian companies last year showed an increase in profit by 48%. "A very good financial results of Russian companies. Last year, profits of Russian companies has increased by 48%, which is half as much. This more than 8 trillion rubles of additional funds that can be invested, which can serve as a basis for development," - said Ulyukayev . In particular, he said, the good results showed the manufacturing sector, which increased profit by 2.9 times. "Chemistry general record holder, 15-fold increase in profits", - the minister said.

Interesting. Good find and thank you. Ill add you as finder of this once I update the website.  Although, I hope the figure will rise even higher this year.

sepheronx wrote:Interesting. Good find and thank you. Ill add you as finder of this once I update the website.  Although, I hope the figure will rise even higher this year.

Yep, as much as it sounds weird, Russia actually needed some type of sanctions from the West to kick start deleveraging process, force economy to change much quicker and create internal reserves so as not to be dependent on West for financing. Several new articles from Constantin Gurdgiev puts thing into perspective:

http://trueeconomics.blogspot.hr/2016/01/23116-russian-external-balance-2015.html

Current account surplus for 2015 surged to 5.4% of GDP

http://trueeconomics.blogspot.hr/2016/01/25116-russian-sovereign-funds-down-but.html

http://trueeconomics.blogspot.hr/2016/01/26116-russian-external-debt.html

Short term painful processes, but in medium to longer term it is in fact a massive investment into economic future.