Putin's Russia: Failing and Flailing
Filed under: Russia
A recent report in the Energy Tribune shows, with the graphic above, that growth in Russia's energy sector is currently less than one third what it was five years ago, calling current growth levels "flat as Siberia." The article states: "Between 2005 and 2007, with the state controlling more than half of Russia's oil production (and with rapidly rising prices), production increases stagnated. Indeed, as the graph shows, between 2000 and 2004, production grew at an average of about 9 percent per year, while in the last three years the trend has been 2.5 percent per year." Basically, in a nutshell, what we are seeing in Russia is the return of communism/dictatorship and its predictable impact on productivity and efficiency.
The extent of Russia's barbaric return to dictatorship is quite horrifying. As an op-ed in the Moscow Times states: "Nothing seems to dampen the authorities' enthusiasm to wipe out any trace of [the Yukos oil major], which at one point was the country's largest and most transparent oil production company. More than 45 people connected to the company have been the target of legal action and the company's assets were expropriated. These actions against Yukos reveal a justice system that is infected with corruption and political bias. They have also demonstrated the complete breakdown of rule of law in Russia."
It's really breathtaking how we are seeing history repeat itself in Russia. It is as if the population has suddenly suffered a massive stroke of amnesia and no longer can recall what happened to the country over the course of the last three decades. And like the famous Emperor with his "new clothes," Russia now stands naked before the world, preening as if it were swathed in mink -- just as the USSR did not so very long ago.