Our World

Booming oil prices are creating a new generation of Russian entrepreneurs

Victoria Grankina, a Moscow-based retail expert, reckons that about 30% of the population now lives "fairly comfortably" on a monthly income of about $1,000 for a family of four. National retail spending has doubled in the past three years and the strongest growth is now to be found in the Urals region and parts of Siberia, where it is leaping by more than 25% per year. The number of mobile phones has soared from 12 per 100 Russians in 2002 to 88 today. Sales of new foreign cars jumped 60% last year. Even the number of Russians living in misery is dropping: a World Bank study shows that the Russian poverty rate halved between 1999 and 2002. That still leaves 2 out of every 10 Russians living in poverty, but the number continues to decline. Today Russian President Putin has a rating over 70%. It is predicted that "Russia will continue to be hooked on oil revenue for the foreseeable future." There continues to be new businesses springing up. Last year there were about 70 startups in Kaluga. The KMB Kaluga branch's loan portfolio swelled over the past year from $600,000 to $2 million, and the number of clients has doubled. A lot of people want to open shops and try their luck at business.

Russia Gets Rich

posted by Anonymous @ 5/07/2006 02:01:00 PM