Another Fatal Flaw in Russia’s Company Towns: Business More Powerful than the State

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, January 14, 2016) Russia’s 300-plus urban centers known as “monogorods” or “company towns” where the vast majority of the population have been the subject of episodic discussions typically triggered when the chief firm closes down, the population is impoverished, and protests arise. Then, these places where more than ten percent of the […]

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Russian Single-Industry Towns Face Crisis

Dmitri Medvedev file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 23, 2015) Most of Russia’s single-industry towns are at risk of economic collapse that would cause massive social dislocation and see millions of Russians lose their livelihoods, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying Wednesday. Some 14 million Russians live in the 319 Russian towns that, in a holdover from the Soviet era, […]

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70 Major Russian Company Towns Dying, Moscow Experts Say

Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 8, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-70-major-russian.html) Slightly more than one in every six Russians­ — some 24.5 million people­ — lives in a company town facing serious economic and demographic decline, with 68 of these 799 places rated as being high risk of complete depopulation unless a new five-year government program can reverse […]

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