MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) – Poverty, inflation, corruption and housing shortages are still the main headaches for Russians but migrant labor, which wasn’t on their list of typical worries eight years ago, has since become a serious national problem in their view. More people see ethnic relations as Russia’s main problem than in 2005. About one quarter of the population […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, October 21, 2013) Russians have mixed feelings about the country’s development scenarios in the near future. Some are optimistic and others suggest pessimistic scenarios, the Russian Public Opinion Studies Center (VTsIOM) told Interfax on Monday. Over a third of Russians (36%) claim a hard period is in store for the country. Most of such opinions are voiced […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief – October 11, 2013) The issue of income inequality in Russia is nothing new. We are used to noting it – then filing it away somewhere as we get on with the rest of our lives. Rich people exist everywhere after all and it’s not as if the United States, to […]
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(Interfax – September 23, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has acknowledged that security and the armed forces are a priority for state spending and social needs will have to take their place in the queue, Interfax news agency reported on 23 September. “I hope that after we complete the reorganization and restructuring of the armed forces, on which we’re […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 30, 2013) Income disparity in Russia increased slightly in the first six months of the year compared with the same period last year, Rosstat reported. The 10% of Russians with the highest incomes accounted for 30.4% of all income in the six months. The first half results in previous years were 30.2% in 2012, 29.8% in […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Julia Reed in Moscow – June 3, 2013) Much has been said about the miserable plight of Russian orphans, especially following the recent ban on all American adoption in Russia in retribution for Congress’ so-called “Magnitsky Act”, which penalizes some Russian officials on human rights grounds. After decades of inaction, suddenly the issue has […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – May 29, 2013) Senior federal officials on Tuesday discussed at the Kremlin the country’s draft plan for the next 12 years to support families with children and ultimately reverse the natural population decline. As part of the plan to boost Russia’s dwindling population which declined for a 20th consecutive year in […]
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(Interfax – BRYANSK, May 16, 2013) 3.4% GDP growth in Russia is good, but there is still income inequality that proves the Russian economy has some flaws, Rosstat head Alexander Surinov told a press conference in Bryansk. “GDP growth rates have shrunk but there is still 3.4% growth. I have been in the statistics business for a long time. 3% […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 7, 2013) Most Russians claim they are accustomed to contemporary living conditions yet 54% admit “life is hard but tolerable,” sociologists said. “The number of such citizens has declined over past months (from 85% in December),” the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) told Interfax on Tuesday presenting a recent poll. Meanwhile, the number of respondents […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 12, 2013) Poverty in Russia has shrunk thrice since the 1990s but higher salaries of public sector employees remain a key objective of the government, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting of the Labor Ministry board on Friday. “Compared with the 1990s, the poverty level has reduced thrice. The decline is directly related to […]
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MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) – Differentiation between the levels of unemployment in Russia’s federal districts remains strong – the gap in the districts can surpass four-fold and in the regions 40-fold, the Federal State Statistics Service Rosstat said in a report on employment and unemployment in February. The lowest level of unemployment, in accordance with ILO criteria, was in the […]
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(Interfax – March 25, 2013) The number of people with incomes below the survival minimum in Russia in 2012 went down to 15.8 million people from 18 million in 2011, Russia’s Statistics Agency Rosstat has reported. The poverty rate (the percentage of people with incomes below the survival minimum) in Russia in 2012 decreased to 11.2 percent from 12.7 percent […]
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[The Illusion of a Rich Russia – Moscow Times/Vedomosti – Dec. 3, 2012 – http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-illusion-of-a-rich-russia/472315.html] The Moscow Times provides an English-language version of a Vedomosti editorial about perceptions and realities of wealth and poverty in Russia, holding that “Amid all of the seemingly good news, however, Russia’s poverty problem is far from conquered.” First Vedomosti recounts some of the Western […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anastasia Matveyeva, Moskovskiye Novosti – November 26, 2012) Over the 2000-2012 period, the income of Russians has grown by 2.5 times. This has radically changed the country’s social structure, say two academics who presented a report at a Gaidar Readings conference in Moscow on Nov. 13: such conditions as poverty have practically disappeared and the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 20, 2012) The material well-being of Russians has improved over the past 10 years, and there are fewer people who barely make ends meet, according to a recent study by the Levada Center pollster. The survey polled 1,600 people in October and showed that since 2002 the number of Russians easily capable of purchasing […]
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USAID ACTIVITIES IN RUSSIA WILL BE CONTINUED BY NDI AND THE FORD FOUNDATION – The U.S. Agency for international development (USAID) will continue to carry out its programs with the help of its partners – Izvestia – Anton Lednev – September 28, 2012 [no link available to English-language version of article] Izvestia reports that, while the U.S. Agency for international […]
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