The best year since the USSR's collapse

Saturday, January 16, 2021

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Santa Claus himself could envy the optimism of Russian political leaders. Head of the Russian government Mikhail Kasyanov has managed to prepare himself a pleasant surprise. Does it mean that Mikhail Mikhailovich has already gotten used to the upcoming resignation and wants Russians to remember him as the best Minister of the best economic reforms? It surely looks like it. German media tycoon Axl Schpringer's statement "Today-only good news", served as a slogan for today's government meeting. Such was Kasyanov's mood. According to Kasyanov, the passing year has become one of the most successful in the economic development of Russia in the past 12 years. Perhaps, such statement should be interpreted in the following way. Many people have tried to introduce their reforms. Among those were Gaidar, Chubais, Chernomirdin, Soskovec, and even Kirienko. Kasyanov however managed to do it all. There are documents to prove it. In order to confirm his statements, Mikhail Kasyanov makes reasonable comparisons of current years" achievements with those of the post-crises 2000. He said that GDP growth has reached 9% back then. But the inflation (20%) has had major consequences. "Therefore, today, when GDP growth is 6.7% with only 12% inflation, is a much better result than that of 2000," remarked the Premier. Mikhail Kasyanov has also pointed out that this year's economic growth has been steadily relying on internal investments and consumer demands. The country"s production is on the rise these days. It is expected that current production efficiency will increase 7%. This is a very important factor. Today, Russians are mainly perplexed with dollars. What do we do with them? Russian Prime Minister in turn has calmed people down. The government will always provide its support to the Central Bank to maintain stability of the financial system. In general, it was rather difficult to understand the minister's message regarding money and inflations. Maybe he is talking about some other rubles and dollars? Perhaps his currency varies from the one people commonly use? Majority of Russians prefer to keep their savings in dollars. Those savings along with monthly salaries however tend to decrease in values. Producers do not seem to gain much from such strengthening of ruble. Experts agree that a considerable part of Russian manufacturers has degraded to the "level of pure survival" as a result of this "strengthening." Today, when dollar is decreasing, prices keep rising. Why is that? This seems to be Kasyanov"s fault. "We will not mention prices for milk and cookies," remarked the Premier, "we will provide appropriate regulation. The government will influence the market by means of taxes, tariffs and various certificates." Experts are certain that Russia's economic system will most likely undergo major modifications starting next year. It will no longer be the same. Today, Mikhail Kasyanov is entitled to be happy. After all, he will always remain the last Premier of liberal reforms of the passing year.