‘Boom’ in Russian Consumer Sector Driven by Military Spending Coming to an End, Zubarevich Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Nov. 22 – The recent “boom” in Russian consumer industries and housing construction fueled by injection of funds from the military-industrial sector is now coming to an end in many parts of the Russian Federation although not as rapidly in Moscow as in other places, Natalya Zubarevich says.

            As a result, the Moscow economic geographer says, growth in these sectors is likely to be minimal in the future or even go negative, undercutting the hopes and expectations that military spending will be able to keep the civilian economy healthy (newizv.ru/news/2023-11-23/v-obrabatyvayuschey-promyshlennosti-rf-nablyudaetsya-burnyy-rost-no-eto-predel-423993).

            With regard to these sectors, Zubarevich says, “the boom is over. September was worse that August” with retail spending in most parts of the country except for Moscow and other large cities falling. The situation in outlying areas like the Russian Far East is especially bad, in part because it was not the beneficiary of the earlier “boom” elsewhere.