Focused on Exports, Russian Economy Suffered Less and Will Rebound More Quickly than Others, Moscow Experts Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, February 3 – Because the Russian economy is based on exports more than domestic demand, it has suffered less than its counterparts in advanced countries and will rebound more quickly, Moscow economists say (regnum.ru/news/3181051.html, regnum.ru/news/3181368.html and regnum.ru/news/3181563.html).

            But domestic demand is declining because of increasing poverty among the Russian population, with one Russian in four now telling the HeadHunter survey group that he or she does not have enough money coming in from work to meet basic needs (echo.msk.ru/news/2784570-echo.html).

            Today, Russian officials registerd 16,474 new cases of infection and 526 new deaths from the coronavirus (t.me/COVID2019_official/2434). But as the pandemic continues and more officials leave their jobs, the former ones are increasingly challenging the official data as fraudulent (regnum.ru/news/3180741.html).

            Moscow officials say the pandemic is easing in 19 federal subjects, stabilizing in “more than 60” and getting worse only in a few (https://echo.msk.ru/news/2784686-echo.html and

https://regnum.ru/news/society/3176513.html). One sign of the opening up is that more prisons are again allowing visitors (regnum.ru/news/3180909.html).

            The Russian government announced that it will resume rail traffic with Belarus on February 8 and air traffic with Azerbaijan and Armenia on February 15 (echo.msk.ru/news/2784540-echo.html).

            Aware of how much money Western pharmaceutical companies are making from their vaccines (vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2021/02/03/856577-pfizer-zarabotaet), Moscow is seeking some  of this market, but Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev says it faces “political” opposition in some countries (regnum.ru/news/3181112.html).

            Russian media did report today that Nicaragua and Mexico have given approval for the use of the Russian vaccine (regnum.ru/news/3181176.html and echo.msk.ru/news/2784356-echo.html), and some outlets expressed hope that the European Union would give similar approval as early as March (regnum.ru/news/3181535.html).

            On the economic front, a new problem looms in trade with China. Chinese officials say they have discovered genetic material from the coronavirus on chicken meat from Russia and thus may impose new restrictions against its import (regnum.ru/news/3181518.html).

            Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments from Russia today,

·         The Moscow Patriarchate reported that the number of clergy who have been infected and in a smaller number of cases died from the coronavirus continue to climb (regnum.ru/news/3181573.html).

·         For the first time in 15 years, the number of rapes in Russia went up. Most took place among acquaintances rather than in public spaces (openmedia.io/news/n4/v-rossii-vpervye-za-15-let-vyroslo-chislo-iznasilovanij-pravozashhitniki-govoryat-o-roste-agressii-v-izolyacii/).

·         Vladimir Putin still hasn’t been vaccinated against the coronavirus, his spokesman says in response to repeated questions about the president’s plans (regnum.ru/news/3181111.html).