Core Elements of the Russian Economy

Russia dominates a number of spheres in the world: it’s 2nd by oil production and export; 1st by natural gas production and export; 1st by the production of aluminum, alumina, nickel, palladium, and titanium; 1st by diamond mining. It has one of the world’s largest uranium deposits, as well as copper and silver reserves...

Following we will elaborate on the main facets of the Russian economy. On the whole, the country is doing better than ever before, even considering the effects of the global crisis. Russia is one of the most promising countries in the world, which entices many people to learn more about it. Some people even take Russian lessons. Note that you don’t need to pay for Russian lessons online; there are a number of Russian lessons free online.

Russia’s economy is heir to the Soviet economy, which underwent substantial changes in the 90’s – after the collapse of the USSR. The main sectors of the Russian economy are: the service sector (49% of GDP), manufacturing (16% of GDP), mining (9.0% of GDP), construction (5% of GDP), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (4% of GDP), production and distribution of electricity, gas and water (3% of GDP).

Let’s take a look at this country’s wealth by area. Western Siberia is rich in oil and gas. Eastern Siberia is renowned for hydropower, nonferrous metallurgy, and the forest industry. The Far East is rich in gold, diamonds, and seafood. The Northern region has coal, oil, gas, metals, forests, and fish. The Central Black Soil Region and Northern Caucasus are known for their agriculture and food industry. North-West, Center, Volga-Vyatka, Ural, and Volga have prominent engineering, chemical industries, and energy production.

Russia dominates a number of spheres in the world: it’s 2nd by oil production and export; 1st by natural gas production and export; 1st by the production of aluminum, alumina, nickel, palladium, and titanium; 1st by diamond mining. It has one of the world’s largest uranium deposits, as well as copper and silver reserves. By electricity production, it’s 4th. By the length of railways, Russia ranks #2 in the world after the United States. By the length of highways, it takes 10th place in the world. Russia owns the world’s largest system of oil pipelines. The country is 5th in the world by the number of landline phones, 4th by the number of cell phones, and 8th by the number of Internet users.

Russia is the largest producer of cars in Eastern Europe, and 11th among heavy truck manufacturers in the world. The country has dozens of auto factories that produce cars under the following major brands: Volkswagen, Skoda, BMW, Ford, Renault, Toyota, Chevrolet, Peugeot-Citroen-Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Kia, and Volvo Truck.

The main food products produced in this country are: meat, sausages, fish products, vegetable oil, tea, wine, beer and mineral water. Russia exports beer to around 50 world countries. The country has one of the world’s leading agricultural machinery manufacturers; 10% of the world’s arable lands are in Russia. Main crops grown here are: grains, sugar beet, sunflower, potato, and flax. The main grain for export is wheat.

Russia’s main exports are oil, gas, coal, steel, non-ferrous metals (aluminum, nickel, and copper), machinery, equipment, weapons, chemical fertilizers, and wheat. Russia’s main imports are: industrial machinery and equipment, cars and trucks, medicines, clothing and footwear.

Russia has numerous resorts, mainly on the Black Sea and in Caucasus. The popular tourist areas are: Saint-Petersburg, Moscow, the cities of the Golden Ring, Volga River, and Lake Baikal.

Russia’s poor are able-bodied inhabitants of villages and small towns, who have children. The country has a high proportion of residents at or below the official poverty line among education, culture and health workers. One of the major problems of contemporary Russia is a large difference in income between the rich and poor.

In late 2008 and early 2009, the Russian economy was hurt by the world crisis. Exports and imports declined, and cheap loans became out of reach. The crisis has triggered Russia’s stock market collapse, ruble devaluation, reduced GDP, lower income, and higher unemployment. Yet, the losses were lower than anticipated at the beginning of the crisis. In part this is due to the large-scale anti-crisis measures taken by the country’s government.

The main trade partners among foreign countries are: Germany, Netherlands, China, Italy, Turkey, Japan, Poland, Britain, and Finland. Russia’s investment attractiveness is constantly growing. It’s the 4th among countries considered the most attractive for future foreign investment by multinational corporations. Russia has an enormous amount of U.S. Treasury bonds; it is one of the largest creditors of the USA. Russia is 2nd in the world by foreign investment (after Saudi Arabia). The country’s external public debt is one of the lowest in the world.

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