Economic Protests in Russia Likely to Arise in Specific Professions rather than in the Population at Large, Inozemtsev Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Feb. 11 – Many observers think that high inflation or the collapse of the national currency will lead to protests, Vladislav Inozemtsev says; but in fact, protests are far more likely to come from particular professional groups that have lost out for one reason or another and where the causes and those responsibility of these losses can be easily identified.
    Inflation and currency collapse are things which in the minds of ordinary Russians are phenomena which “affect everyone” and thus “it is pointless to fight,” the Russian economist and commentator says. But the problems of certain branches precisely because they are narrower are more likely to produce protests (moscowtimes.ru/2025/02/11/gde-tonko-tam-i-porvetsya-ili-opasnoe-bezrazlichie-rossiiskie-vlastei-a154884).
    The problems of the coal industry both past and present are an example of this. Miners went out on strike in the past far more often and massively than other groups precisely because they were affected by the policies of those running that sector, Inozemtsev says. And it is entirely possible that the same thing will happen again.
    Consequently, the Kremlin should be paying attention to such sectors and be working on ways to ameliorate the problems their members face rather than assuming that because rising inflation and exchange rate issues are not driving Russians in general into the streets, that the problems of groups like the miners won’t have that result.