Assessing the level of social economic development in one or another former Soviet republic, experts pay attention, first of all, to the size of GDP per capita, the ratio of the size of the country's external debt to its GDP, compare statistical indicators reflecting the level and quality of life of the population.
The quality of life is also determined by indicators social security population, the size of the average salary and average pension, also take into account the level of employment of the able-bodied population and the average life expectancy of citizens.
The majority of Western experts ranked first in the development rating of fifteen former republics of the USSR as of August 2011 Estonia(population - 1.6 million people), citing as evidence the following indicators: GDP per capita in current prices (in US dollars) - 14.836; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 7.8%; average salary - $ 790; average pension - US $ 305; the average life expectancy is 75 years; employment of the population - 83.5%; the number of families with a personal computer - 65%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 95%.
The standard of living in Estonia, which - the only one of all 15 former Soviet republics - has already switched to the euro, can also be judged from the data of its national statistics, according to which the cost of 1 kWh of electricity is 0.1 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - 1.5 US dollars; a loaf of bread - $ 1.50; 1 liter of milk - 0.9 US dollars; 1 square meter of housing (in Tallinn) - USD 1,500.
The indicators, as can be seen, are quite high, but, nevertheless, almost 45% of Estonians believe that 20 years ago their standard of living was much higher, and their economic situation was more stable. Despite the fact that Estonian mothers receive an allowance in the first 1.5 years after birth, the amount of which is equal to their salary before going on maternity leave, the demographic situation in the country is last years has deteriorated significantly.
The problem of national minorities is acute in Estonia, since all those residents who could not or did not want to obtain Estonian citizenship, often due to lack of knowledge of the Estonian language, received the status of stateless persons and a "foreigner's passport", which significantly restricts their rights, including for employment.
The close connection between the people and the authorities in Estonia is especially noted. For example, almost all residents of Estonia have the addresses and phone numbers of the president, prime minister, ministers, mayors and heads of leading companies, as well as the ability to contact them and be sure to get an answer to their questions.
In the second place in the rating of the development of the former Soviet republics, Western experts put Latvia(population - 2.6 million people) with the following indicators: GDP per capita - USD 10.692; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 50%; average salary - $ 840; average pension - USD 400; average life expectancy - 73.5; employment of the population - 81%; the number of families with a personal computer - 60.5%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 88%.
A loaf of bread in Latvia costs 1.2 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 2; 1 liter of milk - USD 1.5; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.2; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Riga) - 650 US dollars. In 2008, food prices rose sharply in Latvia and today their cost is the highest in the Baltics.
In 1999, Latvia became a member of the WTO, in 2004 - a member of NATO, since 2007 it has been a member of the Schengen zone. Over 95% of the population is fluent in the Russian language in Latvia, but the Russian language has the status of a foreign language in Latvia. Documents in government bodies can be submitted only in Latvian and Lithuanian, despite the fact that over 30% of the Russian-speaking population lives in the country.
There is an active departure from Latvia of its population for permanent residence to other countries, primarily to Great Britain and Ireland. On average, from 10 to 15 thousand of its inhabitants leave the country every year.
The third place in the rating of the development of post-Soviet countries by Western experts is given to Of Russia(population - 150 million people), which as of August 2011 had the following indicators: GDP per capita - 10,500 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 12%; average salary - $ 700; average pension - USD 250; average life expectancy - 69; employment of the population - 93%; the number of families with personal computers - 50%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 90%.
A loaf of bread in Russia costs $ 0.50; 1 liter of milk - USD 1.1; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.1; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.13; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Moscow) - 5,000 US dollars.
In Russia, in recent years, the position of the ruble has significantly strengthened, since salaries and prices are named only in rubles and are not converted into dollars. Industrial production is recovering at a rapid pace, a radical modernization of the economy has begun, the purpose of which is to transform Russia from a country - a supplier of energy resources and raw materials into an exporter of technologically sophisticated products, extensive road construction, and a total rearmament of the army and navy.
The Russian authorities pay much attention to the social sphere - the salaries of state employees and pensions are regularly raised, the volume of social housing under construction is growing, new hospitals, schools and kindergartens are being built.
Russia, which has the world's largest energy reserves and is rapidly developing its economy, is the leading force in the post-Soviet space, the core and backbone of the Customs Union (CU) and the CSTO. She attaches great importance to the preservation of the Russian language in the CIS countries, considering it as a means of interethnic communication.
Russia's goal in the Commonwealth today is to create various integration structures, to create a situation in which its CIS partners will feel the vital need for real and full-fledged participation in all joint programs.
Western experts gave the fourth place in the rating of the development of post-Soviet countries Lithuania(population 3.1 million), which can boast of the following indicators: GDP per capita - 11,050 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 42.5%; average salary - $ 760; average pension - US $ 290; average life expectancy - 73; employment of the population - 82%; the number of families with personal computers - 57%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 76%.
A loaf of bread in Lithuania costs $ 1.4; 1 liter of milk - 1 US dollar; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.8; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.2; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Vilnius) - USD 1,500.
Only 35% of students study for free in Lithuania, the rest pay from 2500 to 3000 and more dollars per semester. More than 95% of Lithuanians speak Russian, but Russian has no official status.
The largest used car markets in Eastern Europe are located in Lithuania. There are 18 cars per 10 adult Lithuanians today.
Lithuania, which has lost its former industrial potential, has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union (16%), therefore, the level of emigration is also high. Many Lithuanian guest workers work today in Ireland, Great Britain (about 120 thousand Lithuanians live in London), Spain and Germany. Due to tough competition and public selfishness, the suicide rate in the country is very high - 40 people per 100 thousand inhabitants.
The fifth place in the rating of the development of the former Soviet republics, compiled by Western experts, took Azerbaijan(population - 8.8 million people), which currently has the following indicators: GDP per capita - 6.000 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 12.5%; average salary - USD 380; average pension - USD 200; average life expectancy - 70.5; employment of the population - 93%; the number of families with a personal computer - 18%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 24%.
A loaf of bread in Azerbaijan costs $ 0.4; 1 liter of milk - 0.8 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 0.4; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.1; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Baku) - 1300 US dollars.
Private business in Azerbaijan accounts for about 70% of GDP. All new enterprises in the country engaged in agricultural production are exempt from paying taxes for a period of 3 to 5 years. The total number of taxes for businesses has been reduced in recent years from 15 to 9.
In connection with the translation of the Azerbaijani language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet, the population of the country currently has big problems with the correct spelling of official documents.
As a result of the bloody fratricidal war in the early nineties of the twentieth century, Azerbaijan today does not control the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and its neighboring regions; in fact, it is in a state of "frozen war" (there is no peace treaty) with neighboring Armenia.
In sixth place, according to the conclusions of Western analysts, is today in the rating of its development Kazakhstan(population 16.5 million), which has reached the following indicators by now: GDP per capita - 8.900 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 19%; average salary - $ 520; average pension - USD 200; average life expectancy - 68.5; employment of the population - 94%; the number of families with a personal computer - 18.5%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 39%.
A loaf of bread in Kazakhstan costs 0.3 US dollars; 1 liter of milk - 0.6 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 0.7; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Astana) - 1600 US dollars.
Astana became the new capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, rebuilt on the site of the former Tselinograd (the former capital - Alma-Ata).
Kazakhstan is focused on close cooperation with Russia and Belarus within the framework of the Customs Union (CU), which brings great economic benefits to the country, providing a powerful inflow of capital from Russia, especially to the northern regions.
In Kazakhstan today there is a large gap in income levels between rich and poor citizens, between residents of cities and villages.
The Russian language in Kazakhstan is widespread and is the second official language in the country. Russian is spoken by the majority of the population, Russian can be heard much more often than Kazakh.
The seventh place in the rating of development over the past twenty years since independence, according to the conclusions of Western experts, is Belarus(population 9.5 million), which has the following estimated indicators: GDP per capita - 5.800 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 28.5%; average salary - 420 US dollars; average pension - USD 200; average life expectancy - 71; employment of the population - 99%; the number of families with a personal computer - 30%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 98%.
A loaf of bread in Belarus costs $ 0.40; 1 liter of milk - USD 0.5; 1 liter of gasoline - 0.8 US dollars; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03, 1 sq. meter of housing (in Minsk) - 1200 US dollars.
Belarus is one of the five largest exporters of dairy products in the world, ranks 1st in the world in potato production per capita, covers 12% of world exports of butter and 6% of cheese.
The Russian language in Belarus has the status of the state language, while the sphere of use of the Belarusian language is constantly decreasing (for 9 million of the population there are only 1900 schools with the Belarusian language of instruction).
There is no significant social stratification between citizens in the country. The pace GDP growth- above 8%. However, raising wages to $ 500 in 2011 led to a devaluation of the Belarusian ruble and a sharp rise in prices, especially for food.
The eighth place in the rating of the development of the post-Soviet republics of the former USSR, compiled by Western experts - analysts, is Ukraine(population 46 million people) with the following main indicators: GDP per capita - 3000 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 41%; average salary - $ 280; average pension - $ 150; average life expectancy - 69; employment of the population - 92%; the number of families with personal computers - 21%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 97%.
A loaf of bread in Ukraine costs $ 0.50; 1 liter of milk - 1 US dollar; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.2; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Kiev) - 1900 US dollars.
According to foreign experts, over twenty years of independence, Ukraine has not managed to achieve decisive success in the economy and social sphere due to total corruption and the negative "features" of its political elite, which owns the art of waging "clan wars", but does not have a clear idea of how which direction should the country go - to the West, to the EU and NATO, or to the East, to the Customs Union (CU) and the CSTO.
Today, the main problem for the CU remains the position of Ukraine, which is aimed at integration into the EU. At the same time, experts note that Ukraine runs the risk of losing very much, continuing its attempts to simultaneously sit on two chairs - the CIS and the EU. In particular, if Ukraine joins the EU Free Trade Zone, cheaper and better quality Western goods will quickly sweep away Ukrainian goods from the domestic market.
The Russian language in Ukraine is widespread and used both in official correspondence and at the everyday level, but it does not have an official status.
Western experts took the ninth place in the jubilee development rating Moldova(population - without Transnistria - 3.6 million people), which has reached, in the time since the proclamation of its state independence and sovereignty, very modest, in comparison with other former republics of the USSR, indicators: GDP per capita - 1,600 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 35%; average salary - $ 240; average pension - $ 80; average life expectancy - 69; employment of the population - 92%; the number of families with personal computers - 30%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 73%.
A loaf of bread in Moldova costs 0.3 US dollars; 1 liter of milk - US $ 0.9; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.4; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.15; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Chisinau) - 900 US dollars.
More than a third of the able-bodied population of Moldova works abroad today. Remittances from Moldovan guest workers from abroad, sent through official channels, annually exceed US $ 1 billion. Approximately the same number, according to experts, is sent illegally.
Almost 70% of the industrial potential of Moldova remained on the left bank of the Dniester, in the self-proclaimed PMR. The privatization of the enterprises that remained on the Right Bank was extremely ineffective; many factories and plants are now destroyed and do not work. The previously flourishing agricultural production is in a deplorable state.
The Russian language in Moldova is widespread everywhere, has the status of a language of interethnic communication, but in recent times liberal authorities are trying to oust him from the sphere government controlled and limit the scope of its application in everyday life.
The lack of stability in the highest echelons of power in Moldova negatively affects the business climate in the country, since potential investors in this situation refrain from large investments.
Attempts to "simultaneously go to the West and to the East", the priority of "European integration" (without visible positive results of such a policy) led to the fact that Moldova does not use the advantages that its membership in the CIS, including the CU and the CSTO, gives it. does not advance in the issue of the country's reintegration, loses support and assistance from Russia.
In tenth place in the rating of its development for twenty years of state independence was Georgia(population 4.4 million), which today has the following main indicators: GDP per capita - 2.600 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 48%; average salary - $ 300; average pension - $ 40; average life expectancy - 71; employment of the population - 83%; the number of families with a personal computer - 12%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 63%.
A loaf of bread in Georgia costs 0.5 US dollars% 1 liter of milk - 2.1 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - USD 1.5; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.12; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Tbilisi) - 1400 US dollars.
After the 2008 war, as a result of which Georgia finally lost control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia's rail links with Ukraine and Russia were interrupted, but there are charter flights to Moscow and Kiev.
The citizens of Georgia have a strong nostalgia for the Soviet era, when there was universal employment and free health care, since the country has a high unemployment rate and the population's income is very low. In particular, one day of hospital stay (which are privatized) in Georgia costs 150 lari, that is, over 70 US dollars.
In Georgia, restrictions have been introduced on the holding of government positions by former members of the CPSU, Komsomol and KGB officers. Most of the citizens of Georgia speak Russian, but the Russian language does not have an official status.
The eleventh place in the development rating for twenty years of state independence took Armenia(population - 3.4 million people), having today: GDP per capita - 2.850 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 52%; average salary - US $ 290; average pension - US $ 70; average life expectancy - 73; employment of the population - 92%; the number of families with a personal computer - 11%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 33%.
A loaf of bread in Armenia costs 0.3 US dollars; 1 liter of milk - 1 US dollar; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.3; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.2; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Yerevan) - $ 750.
Independence deprived the citizens of Armenia of guaranteed employment and stable social security, free education and medicine, and devalued the savings accumulated during the Soviet era.
Today Armenia is a hostage of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is not yet amenable to settlement and therefore relations with Azerbaijan remain tense. Armenia found itself in a complete blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey, which Yerevan blames for the Armenian genocide in 1915.
Armenia is connected with Russia and the rest of the world by a road through Georgia (extremely unreliable), as well as through Iran. For this reason, imported goods in Armenia are very expensive.
Lack of hope for a change for the better prompts many Armenian citizens to leave the country. The Armenian diasporas in Russia, the USA and France render great assistance to their compatriots.
The twelfth place in the development rating, in comparison with other post-Soviet countries, was given by Western experts Uzbekistan(population - 28 million people), which currently has the following economic and social indicators: GDP per capita - USD 1.380; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 12%; average salary - $ 240; average pension - $ 60; average life expectancy - 68%; employment of the population - 98%; the number of families with personal computers - 8.5%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 26%.
A loaf of bread in Uzbekistan costs $ 0.50; 1 liter of milk - USD 1.5; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 0.7; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.04; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Tashkent) - 600 US dollars.
The current Uzbek authorities keep the country isolated from the outside world. Only a few checkpoints on the border have been opened, at which strict filtering of those entering is carried out, especially from Tajikistan or other neighboring countries, where the units of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) are based.
All media outlets in Uzbekistan are official, the activities of the opposition, in fact, are prohibited. The system of power has remained almost unchanged since Soviet times; many officials have remained in their posts for more than 25-30 years. A monument to the former 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan Sharaf Rashidov, highly respected by the current leadership, has been erected in Tashkent.
Most of the citizens of Uzbekistan live in poverty, especially in countryside... Several million Uzbeks work today in Russia.
The state in Uzbekistan keeps local oligarchs under strict control. The authorities present the constant arrests of businessmen as a fight against corruption. Foreign goods are subject to very high customs duties, which makes them uncompetitive in the local market.
The high concentration of police in Tashkent, whose permanent posts are even in underground passages, contributes to the extremely low level of street crime in the Uzbek capital.
As a member of the CSTO, Uzbekistan, however, opposes today the refusal of the principle of consensus in decision-making proposed by its other members. For this reason, they want to present the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov with a choice - either he will sign this agreement, or his country will lose its membership in the CSTO.
Experts gave the thirteenth place in the development rating Turkmenistan(population - 5.0 million people), whose indicators by now are as follows: GDP per capita - 3.900 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 17%; average salary - $ 300; average pension - US $ 70; average life expectancy - 65; employment of the population - 84%; the number of families with personal computers - 7.5%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 18%.
A loaf of bread in Turkmenistan costs US $ 0.3; 1 liter of milk - 1 US dollar; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 0.2; 1 Watt-hour of electricity - 0.0 (for the population - free of charge) US dollars; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Ashgabat) - $ 1,000.
The country is tightly closed from the outside world. Turkmenistan has established a strict visa regime with all CIS countries.
The state owns all major industrial enterprises... Slightly modified collective farms remain in the countryside, in which schoolchildren and students are required to work during the cotton harvest.
The land is given to everyone for rent, but the state itself determines what should be grown on it, giving a specific order and providing financial and technical assistance to tenants.
At the same time, the authorities are constantly introducing various benefits for the population. Import duties on cars are very low. All car owners are given 120 - 150 liters of gasoline per month free of charge, gas and electricity are supplied to their homes free of charge. On average for two-room apartment Turkmen pay no more than $ 50 per year. There are subsidies for bread, and salt is provided free of charge.
The closeness of Turkmenistan to tourists leads to the fact that new five-star hotels in Ashgabat are empty, as local citizens cannot use them due to their poverty. These hotels have become today a place of revelry for the Turkmen nobility.
The country's problem is the very low level of health care. Although modern medical centers have been built in Ashgabat, there is an acute shortage of qualified doctors - specialists, since most of them have retired or left for Russia. For this reason, Turkmen women give birth at home, which leads to high mortality babies.
In 1998, Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov abolished pensions for peasants, stating that elderly people in the countryside should be supported by their children and grandchildren, and set pensions for urban residents at $ 10 a month. Today the situation is changing for the better - the new President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has established a pension for peasants in the amount of $ 25, returned benefits to disabled people and women in labor.
In the fourteenth place in the rating of the development of the former Soviet republics for twenty years after their secession from the USSR, according to estimates of Western experts, was Kyrgyzstan(Kyrgyzstan) (population - 5.4 million people) with the following indicators: GDP per capita - US $ 870; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 70%; average salary - $ 160; average pension - $ 50; average life expectancy - 67; employment of the population - 94%; the number of families with personal computers - 3%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 15%.
A loaf of bread in Kyrgyzstan costs $ 0.2; 1 liter of milk - USD 0.5; 1 liter of gasoline - 1 US dollar; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Bishkek) - $ 700.
Over the past six years, two presidents have been ousted in Kyrgyzstan - Askar Akayev in 2005 and Kurmanbek Bakiyev in 2007. There were pogroms in large cities, an interethnic bloody clash in the city of Osh between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Entire Uzbek neighborhoods were burned out.
Many experts believe that the cause of these clashes is the poverty of most of the local population, problems with education and employment, acute social inequality and corruption. For example, in 2010, over 60% of Kyrgyz citizens received wages below the subsistence level. About 30% of the Kyrgyz live below the poverty line. Food prices are very high.
Islam is actively reviving in Kyrgyzstan. If twenty years ago there were twenty mosques in the whole of Kyrgyzstan, today there are over 1,500 of them. Turkey plays the role of a conductor of Islamism in Kyrgyzstan, which paid over 70% of the cost of building mosques, and sends its emissaries-preachers. Much money comes from Kuwait to support Islamism.
The most developed sector of the economy in Kyrgyzstan today is textile production (30% of GDP). Gold mining accounts for 40% of export earnings.
The Russian language in Kyrgyzstan has an official status. Parliamentary and government pages on the Internet are maintained in Kyrgyz and Russian languages. However, the acting President of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva and a number of other leading Kyrgyz politicians believe that all education in the country should be translated only into the Kyrgyz language.
However, ordinary Kyrgyz see their future in Russia and therefore they learn Russian, and when they leave for Russia, they change their surnames to Russian. Today, over 600,000 Kyrgyz already live and work in Russia, and over 1 million outside the country in general (approximately 50% of the working population).
From Russia to Kyrgyzstan, its former citizens annually transfer 1.2-1.5 billion US dollars. For every second family in Kyrgyzstan, this is either the main or generally the only source of livelihood.
At the CIS summit in Dushanbe, representatives of Kyrgyzstan announced that their country intends to join the Customs Union (CU), but they want Kyrgyzstan to remain a member of the WTO as well.
The last, fifteenth, place in the development rating is taken today, according to the conclusions of Western experts, Tajikistan(population - 7.5 million people), whose indicators are as follows: GDP per capita - 740 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 45%; average salary - $ 85; average pension - $ 20; average life expectancy - 67; employment of the population - 85%; the number of families with a personal computer - 2%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 9%.
A loaf of bread in Tajikistan costs $ 0.2; 1 liter of milk - USD 0.5; 1 liter of gasoline - USD 1.5; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Dushanbe) - $ 700.
The country is pursuing a policy of total nationalization, all Soviet names and Turkic-language toponyms have completely disappeared from its geographical map. Even Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov has renamed himself the "more Tajik" Rahmon.
From 1992 to 1997 in Tajikistan there was a civil war in which over 55 thousand civilians died, and the country's economic potential was significantly weakened. Today Tajikistan is the poorest (after Afghanistan) country in the region. Since the beginning of the 90s, even Dushanbe has no centralized heating.
The country is gaining in political and economic impact China, with which Tajikistan, in exchange for humanitarian aid, signed agreements on the demarcation of the border beneficial to Beijing, giving up more than 1% of its territory to its neighbors.
According to Western journalists, the citizens of Tajikistan are confident that the authorities cannot but steal, and therefore strive to occupy leadership positions both for personal enrichment and to help their relatives and fellow villagers.
Important routes for the transit of drugs from Afghanistan to Europe pass through Tajikistan. The drug traffic is controlled by large mafia groups with connections in law enforcement agencies. However, in comparison with neighboring countries, there are few drug addicts in Tajikistan itself, and the law provides for long sentences for the cultivation of opium poppy. Every year Tajikistan receives large grants from international organizations to combat drug trafficking.
Imported goods in Tajikistan are very expensive, since the border with Uzbekistan is actually closed and therefore all goods are delivered along dangerous high-mountain roads through the Pamirs from Russia and China.
In Tajikistan, unlike Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the government officially recognizes the opposition and, in accordance with the peace treaty that ended the civil war, gives it up to a third of the seats in government bodies.
Opposition parties in Tajikistan, according to Western journalists and experts, are not ideological formations, but are only groups of lobbyists for the interests of various regions of the country.
India has a strong influence on the cultural life of Tajikistan. Tajik youth practically do not know Russian, but middle-aged people still speak it. Recently, there has been renewed interest in learning the Russian language among young people, which is caused by their desire to find a well-paid job in Russia.
Valery Bezrutchenko
REFERENCE: In the 70s of the last century, according to UN reports, the USSR was among the top ten countries in the world in terms of living standards. Today, in such a UN rating, the Baltic states occupy places in the fourth or fifth tens, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine - in the seventh, Georgia and Armenia - in the eighth, Turkmenistan - in the ninth, Moldova - in the tenth, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan - in eleventh, Tajikistan - twelfth.
Maybe that's why, despite all the propaganda efforts, nostalgia for the USSR is growing even in the Baltic States?
It is officially believed that the "Soviet project" failed because the USSR collapsed. The logic is iron, but only for a poorly educated person. The state collapsed. Moreover, not by itself, but thanks to decades of work by much more powerful states. The project itself is just alive. Certain elements of it were adopted by absolutely all developed countries of the world. China, also grown according to the Soviet project, also achieved the greatest growth tampa. Vietnam is alive and well developing, Cuba with the legendary Castro is alive in spite of everything.
Not even nostalgia, but the popularity of the "Soviet project" not only does not decline, but is growing throughout the post-Soviet space. If not for the growth of such sentiments, no one would have adopted laws punishing Soviet awards and the Red Flag, would not rename streets and demolish monuments. The authorities of the newly-minted states are scared to convulsions of the memory of the best - cleaner and more honest years. Because the most thieving Minister of Fisheries of the USSR or the richest bride of the country Galina Brezhneva are beggars compared to the state of a simple district head of the tax inspection in Donetsk or Zaporozhye. I am already silent about the capital.
This means that the "Soviet project" is alive. To admit this is unprofitable for any government, except perhaps the Russian one. For the leadership of any post-Soviet state, this is a deadly trend. For Russia, it is rather the opposite. But Russia has lived by its own laws for thousands of years.
And it seems that the authorities began to realize that a return to many of the values of the USSR is vital. This is what determines the heartbreaking squeal of all human rights defenders, liberals, democrats and their foreign sponsors. It is from here that Putin and Medvedev manage to simultaneously accuse both of the revival of Stalinism and the destruction of the memory of Stalin.
In fact, it is precisely the process of a normal and adequate assessment of the past that is going on. Recognition of really committed mistakes and crimes on the one hand and extraordinary achievements that are now lost on the other. After all, it’s really real and no doubt great that under Stalin’s leadership we won the Patriotic War and created a nuclear shield, became world leaders in very many respects, and even post-war cards were canceled a dozen years earlier than the British. Under Khrushchev, we were the first to go into space and moved tens of millions from dugouts and sheds to "Khrushchev" built according to the French project, under Brezhnev we entered the top ten countries in the world with the highest standard of living.
This means that the "Soviet project" is not a border on the map, a country that did not disintegrate just twenty years ago. The "Soviet project" is not the charter of the CPSU, not the works of Lenin and Stalin, not the speeches of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. This is not the popularity of the Marxist-Leninist ideology (the majority of them do not like them), but something completely different. This is something that lives in memory, excites hearts, excites minds and feelings and does not want to die, no matter how rush to bury it, the "judges of time."
This “something” is the craving of people for lost unity, for lost values of moral and ethical nature, which united and rallied people, even without being spelled out in the charter of the CPSU or in the newspaper Pravda (and sometimes united - and contrary to what was prescribed). This is a craving for the involvement of the interests of ordinary people in the interests of the country. This is a craving, in the end, for completely material achievements: those who believe that the USSR, at least in the so-called era of developed socialism, was inhabited by hungry, beggars, ragged, downtrodden, illiterate, unspiritual parents of street children, which (both children and parents) were now and then mercilessly put under a knife, pistol, machine gun, explosives, I advise you to read and think more and watch more modern news releases, films and programs, where all of the above is just present in abundance.
None of Stalin's innocent victims or victims of political repression of the entire Soviet period can be compared with how many people were killed in the vastness of the collapsing USSR to this day. After all, Chechnya is not an invention of Yeltsin or Berezovsky. And Dudayev is nothing more than a puppet. The same as the much smarter professor Khasbulatov, the only Chechen who reached such heights and betrayed everyone and everything. From the USSR to their fellow tribesmen. If they were not so different, they would have been born as a result of the collapse of the USSR. Tens of millions killed, died of hunger and poverty, without medical and social assistance.
Yes, take any Country. From impoverished Georgia to "prosperous" EU and NATO members in the Baltics. For 20 independent years, the population has decreased by 20-35%. What famine and thirty-seventh year compares to this? The population of Ukraine has decreased by a third. This is 15-17 million people! And after all, for the state, all these people are dead (even if physically someone lives safely abroad). That's all, this is already a cut off slice.
In other words, the current popularity of the "Soviet project" is a desire to return not the USSR in its former form (this is simply impossible), but something truly good, high and valuable that was achieved in the USSR, but then destroyed with the same frenzy with which the Bolsheviks themselves at one time destroyed the achievements of the Russian Empire.
Determining the current rating of each of the fifteen former Soviet republics, Western experts, first of all, pay attention to statistical indicators that give an idea of the level of their economic, humanitarian and social development, while placing the main emphasis on the quality of life of the population, since this is generally considered to be the main indicator of the success or, on the contrary, the failure of public policy.
Deriving the level of social security of the population, Western experts assess, first of all, the size of the average salary and average pension in a particular post-Soviet country, taking into account also the average life expectancy of its citizens and the average level of employment of the able-bodied population.
When assessing the level of economic independence of a particular former Soviet republic, attention is drawn to the size of GDP per capita in current prices and the ratio of the size of the country's external debt to its GDP.
Most Western experts on first place in the development rating of fifteen former republics of the USSR as of August 2011 put Estonia (population - 1.6 million people), citing as evidence the following indicators: GDP per capita in current prices (in US dollars) - 14.836; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 7.8%; average salary - $ 790; average pension - US $ 305; the average life expectancy is 75 years; employment of the population - 83.5%; the number of families with a personal computer - 65%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 95%.
The standard of living in Estonia, which is the only one of all 15 former Soviet republics, has already switched to the euro, can also be judged from the data of its national statistics, according to which the cost of 1 kWh of electricity is 0.1 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - 1.5 US dollars; a loaf of bread - $ 1.50; 1 liter of milk - 0.9 US dollars; 1 square meter of housing (in Tallinn) - USD 1,500.
The indicators are apparently very high, but, nevertheless, almost 45% of Estonians believe that 20 years ago their standard of living was much higher, and their economic situation was more stable. Despite the fact that Estonian mothers in the first 1.5 years after birth receive an allowance equal to their salary before going on maternity leave, the demographic situation in the country has deteriorated significantly in recent years.
The problem of national minorities is an acute problem in Estonia, since all those of its inhabitants who could not or did not want to obtain Estonian citizenship, often due to lack of knowledge of the Estonian language, received the status of stateless persons and a "foreigner's passport", which significantly restricts their rights, including for employment.
The close connection between the people and the authorities in Estonia is especially noted. For example, almost all residents of Estonia have the addresses and phone numbers of the president, prime minister, ministers, mayors and heads of leading companies, as well as the ability to contact them and be sure to get an answer to their questions.
On second place in the rating of the development of the former Soviet republics, Western experts put Latvia (population - 2.6 million people) with the following indicators: GDP per capita - USD 10.692; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 50%; average salary - $ 840; average pension - USD 400; average life expectancy - 73.5; employment of the population - 81%; the number of families with a personal computer - 60.5%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 88%.
A loaf of bread in Latvia costs 1.2 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 2; 1 liter of milk - USD 1.5; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.2; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Riga) - 650 US dollars. In 2008, food prices rose sharply in Latvia and today their cost is the highest in the Baltics.
In 1999, Latvia became a member of the WTO, in 2004 - a member of NATO, since 2007 it has been a member of the Schengen zone. Over 95% of the population is fluent in the Russian language in Latvia, but the Russian language has the status of a foreign language in Latvia. Documents can be submitted to state bodies only in Latvian and Lithuanian, despite the fact that over 30% of the Russian-speaking population lives in the country.
There is an active departure from Latvia of its population for permanent residence to other countries, primarily to Great Britain and Ireland. On average, from 10 to 15 thousand of its inhabitants leave the country every year.
Third place in the rating of the development of post-Soviet countries by Western experts Of Russia (population - 150 million people), which as of August 2011 had the following indicators: GDP per capita - 10,500 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 12%; average salary - $ 700; average pension - USD 250; average life expectancy - 69; employment of the population - 93%; the number of families with personal computers - 50%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 90%.
A loaf of bread in Russia costs $ 0.50; 1 liter of milk - USD 1.1; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.1; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.13; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Moscow) - 5,000 US dollars.
In Russia, in recent years, the position of the ruble has significantly strengthened, since salaries and prices are named only in rubles and are not converted into dollars. Industrial production is recovering at a rapid pace, a radical modernization of the economy has begun, the purpose of which is to transform Russia from a country - a supplier of energy resources and raw materials into an exporter of technologically complex products, road construction is widely deployed, and a total re-equipment of the army and navy is being carried out.
The Russian authorities pay much attention to the social sphere - the salaries of state employees and pensions are regularly raised, the volume of social housing under construction is growing, new hospitals, schools and kindergartens are being built.
Russia, which has the world's largest energy reserves and is rapidly developing its economy, is the leading force in the post-Soviet space, the core and backbone of the Customs Union (CU) and the CSTO. She attaches great importance to the preservation of the Russian language in the CIS countries, considering it as a means of interethnic communication.
Russia's goal in the Commonwealth today is to create various integration structures, to create a situation in which its CIS partners will feel the vital need for real and full-fledged participation in all joint programs.
Fourth place in the rating of the development of post-Soviet countries, Western experts gave Lithuania (population 3.1 million), which can boast of the following indicators: GDP per capita - 11,050 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 42.5%; average salary - $ 760; average pension - US $ 290; average life expectancy - 73; employment of the population - 82%; the number of families with personal computers - 57%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 76%.
A loaf of bread in Lithuania costs $ 1.4; 1 liter of milk - 1 US dollar; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.8; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.2; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Vilnius) - USD 1,500.
Only 35% of students study for free in Lithuania, the rest pay from 2500 to 3000 and more dollars per semester. More than 95% of Lithuanians speak Russian, but Russian has no official status.
The largest used car markets in Eastern Europe are located in Lithuania. There are 18 cars per 10 adult Lithuanians today.
Lithuania, which has lost its former industrial potential, has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union (16%), therefore, the level of emigration is also high. Many Lithuanian guest workers work today in Ireland, Great Britain (about 120 thousand Lithuanians live in London), Spain and Germany. Due to tough competition and public selfishness, the suicide rate in the country is very high - 40 people per 100 thousand inhabitants.
Fifth place in the rating of the development of the former Soviet republics, compiled by Western experts, took Azerbaijan (population - 8.8 million people), which currently has the following indicators: GDP per capita - 6.000 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 12.5%; average salary - USD 380; average pension - USD 200; average life expectancy - 70.5; employment of the population - 93%; the number of families with a personal computer - 18%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 24%.
A loaf of bread in Azerbaijan costs $ 0.4; 1 liter of milk - 0.8 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 0.4; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.1; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Baku) - 1300 US dollars.
Private business in Azerbaijan accounts for about 70% of GDP. All new enterprises in the country engaged in agricultural production are exempt from paying taxes for a period of 3 to 5 years. The total number of taxes for businesses has been reduced in recent years from 15 to 9.
In connection with the translation of the Azerbaijani language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet, the population of the country currently has big problems with the correct spelling of official documents.
As a result of the bloody fratricidal war in the early nineties of the twentieth century, Azerbaijan today does not control the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and its neighboring regions; in fact, it is in a state of "frozen war" (there is no peace treaty) with neighboring Armenia.
On sixth place , according to the conclusions of Western analysts, in the ranking of its development is today Kazakhstan (population 16.5 million), which has reached the following indicators by now: GDP per capita - 8.900 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 19%; average salary - $ 520; average pension - USD 200; average life expectancy - 68.5; employment of the population - 94%; the number of families with a personal computer - 18.5%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 39%.
A loaf of bread in Kazakhstan costs 0.3 US dollars; 1 liter of milk - 0.6 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 0.7; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Astana) - 1600 US dollars.
Astana became the new capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, rebuilt on the site of the former Tselinograd (the former capital - Alma-Ata).
Kazakhstan is focused on close cooperation with Russia and Belarus within the framework of the Customs Union (CU), which brings great economic benefits to the country, providing a powerful inflow of capital from Russia, especially to the northern regions.
In Kazakhstan today there is a large gap in income levels between rich and poor citizens, between residents of cities and villages.
The Russian language in Kazakhstan is widespread and is the second official language in the country. Russian is spoken by the majority of the population, Russian can be heard much more often than Kazakh.
Seventh place in the rating of development over the past twenty years since independence, according to the conclusions of Western experts, is Belarus (population 9.5 million), which has the following estimated indicators: GDP per capita - 5.800 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 28.5%; average salary - 420 US dollars; average pension - USD 200; average life expectancy - 71; employment of the population - 99%; the number of families with a personal computer - 30%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 98%.
A loaf of bread in Belarus costs $ 0.40; 1 liter of milk - USD 0.5; 1 liter of gasoline - 0.8 US dollars; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03, 1 sq. meter of housing (in Minsk) - 1200 US dollars.
Belarus is one of the five largest exporters of dairy products in the world, ranks 1st in the world in potato production per capita, covers 12% of world exports of butter and 6% of cheese.
The Russian language in Belarus has the status of the state language, while the sphere of use of the Belarusian language is constantly decreasing (for 9 million of the population there are only 1900 schools with the Belarusian language of instruction).
There is no significant social stratification between citizens in the country. GDP growth rates are above 8%. However, raising wages to $ 500 in 2011 led to a devaluation of the Belarusian ruble and a sharp rise in prices, especially for food.
Eighth place in the rating of the development of the post-Soviet republics of the former USSR, compiled by Western experts - analysts, takes Ukraine (population 46 million people) with the following main indicators: GDP per capita - 3000 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 41%; average salary - $ 280; average pension - $ 150; average life expectancy - 69; employment of the population - 92%; the number of families with personal computers - 21%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 97%.
A loaf of bread in Ukraine costs $ 0.50; 1 liter of milk - 1 US dollar; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.2; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Kiev) - 1900 US dollars.
According to foreign experts, over twenty years of independence, Ukraine has not managed to achieve decisive success in the economy and social sphere due to total corruption and negative "features" of its political elite, which owns the art of waging "clan wars", but does not have a clear idea of how which direction should the country go - to the West, to the EU and NATO, or to the East, to the Customs Union and the CSTO.
Today, the main problem for the CU remains the position of Ukraine, which is aimed at integration into the EU. At the same time, experts note that Ukraine runs the risk of losing very much, continuing its attempts to simultaneously sit on two chairs - the CIS and the EU. In particular, if Ukraine joins the EU Free Trade Zone, cheaper and better quality Western goods will quickly sweep away Ukrainian goods from the domestic market.
The Russian language in Ukraine is widespread and used both in official correspondence and at the everyday level, but it does not have an official status.
Ninth place in the jubilee development rating, Western experts took Moldova (population - without Transnistria - 3.6 million people), which has reached, in the time since the proclamation of its state independence and sovereignty, very modest, in comparison with other former republics of the USSR, indicators: GDP per capita - 1,600 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 35%; average salary - $ 240; average pension - $ 80; average life expectancy - 69; employment of the population - 92%; the number of families with personal computers - 30%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 73%.
A loaf of bread in Moldova costs 0.3 US dollars; 1 liter of milk - US $ 0.9; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.4; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.15; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Chisinau) - 900 US dollars.
More than a third of the able-bodied population of Moldova works abroad today. Remittances from Moldovan guest workers from abroad, sent through official channels, annually exceed US $ 1 billion. Approximately the same number, according to experts, is sent illegally.
Almost 70% of the industrial potential of Moldova remained on the left bank of the Dniester, in the self-proclaimed PMR. The privatization of the enterprises that remained on the Right Bank was extremely ineffective; many factories and plants are now destroyed and do not work. The previously flourishing agricultural production is in a deplorable state.
The Russian language in Moldova is widespread everywhere, has the status of a language of interethnic communication, but recently the liberal authorities have been trying to oust it from the sphere of public administration and limit the scope of its use in everyday life.
The lack of stability in the highest echelons of power in Moldova negatively affects the business climate in the country, since potential investors in this situation refrain from large investments.
Attempts to "simultaneously go to the West and to the East", the priority of "European integration" (without visible positive results of such a policy) led to the fact that Moldova does not use the advantages that its membership in the CIS, including the CU and the CSTO, gives it. does not advance in the issue of reintegration of the country, loses support and assistance from Russia.
On tenth place in the rating of its development for twenty years of state independence was Georgia (population 4.4 million), which today has the following main indicators: GDP per capita - 2.600 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 48%; average salary - $ 300; average pension - $ 40; average life expectancy - 71; employment of the population - 83%; the number of families with a personal computer - 12%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 63%.
A loaf of bread in Georgia costs 0.5 US dollars% 1 liter of milk - 2, 10 US dollars; 1 liter of gasoline - USD 1.5; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.12; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Tbilisi) - 1400 US dollars.
After the 2008 war, as a result of which Georgia finally lost control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia's rail links with Ukraine and Russia were interrupted, but there are charter flights to Moscow and Kiev.
The citizens of Georgia have a strong nostalgia for the Soviet era, when there was universal employment and free health care, since the country has a high unemployment rate and the population's income is very low.
In addition, one day of hospital stay (which are privatized) in Georgia costs 150 lari, that is, over 70 US dollars.
In Georgia, restrictions have been introduced on the holding of government positions by former members of the CPSU, Komsomol and KGB officers. Most Georgian citizens speak Russian, but it has no official status.
Eleventh place in the development rating for twenty years of state independence, according to its main indicators, it took Armenia (population - 3.4 million people), which today has: GDP per capita - 2.850 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 52%; average salary - US $ 290; average pension - US $ 70; average life expectancy - 73; employment of the population - 92%; the number of families with a personal computer - 11%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 33%.
A loaf of bread in Armenia costs 0.3 US dollars; 1 liter of milk - 1 US dollar; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 1.3; 1 kWh of electricity - $ 0.2; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Yerevan) - $ 750.
Independence robbed the Armenians of free education, free medicine, deprived them of their savings accumulated during the Soviet era, as well as guaranteed employment and stable social security.
Today Armenia is a hostage of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is not yet amenable to settlement and therefore relations with Azerbaijan remain tense. Armenia found itself in a complete blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey, which Yerevan blames for the Armenian genocide in 1915.
Armenia is connected with Russia and the rest of the world only by a path (extremely unreliable) through Georgia, as well as a road through Iran. For this reason, imported goods in Armenia are very expensive.
Lack of hope for a change for the better prompts many Armenian citizens to leave the country. The Armenian diasporas in Russia, the USA and France render great assistance to their compatriots.
Twelfth place in the development rating, in comparison with other post-Soviet countries, Western experts took Uzbekistan (population - 28 million people), which currently has the following economic and social indicators: GDP per capita - USD 1.380; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 12%; average salary - $ 240; average pension - $ 60; average life expectancy - 68%; employment of the population - 98%; the number of families with personal computers - 8.5%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 26%.
A loaf of bread in Uzbekistan costs $ 0.50; 1 liter of milk - USD 1.5; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 0.7; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.04; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Tashkent) - 600 US dollars.
The current Uzbek authorities keep the country isolated from the outside world. Only a few checkpoints on the border have been opened, at which strict filtering of those entering is carried out, especially from Tajikistan or other neighboring countries, where the units of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) are based.
All media outlets in Uzbekistan are official, the activities of the opposition, in fact, are prohibited. The system of power has remained almost unchanged since Soviet times; many officials have remained in their posts for more than 25-30 years. A monument to the former 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan Sharaf Rashidov, highly respected by the current leadership, has been erected in Tashkent.
Most of the citizens of Uzbekistan live in poverty, especially in rural areas. Several million Uzbeks work today in Russia.
The state in Uzbekistan keeps local oligarchs under strict control. The authorities present the constant arrests of businessmen as a fight against corruption. Foreign goods are subject to very high customs duties, which makes them uncompetitive in the local market.
The high concentration of police in Tashkent, whose permanent posts are even in underground passages, contributes to the extremely low level of street crime in the Uzbek capital.
As a member of the CSTO, Uzbekistan, however, opposes today the refusal of the principle of consensus in decision-making proposed by its other members. For this reason, they want to present the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov with a choice - either he will sign this agreement, or his country will lose its membership in the CSTO.
Thirteenth place in the development rating, experts took Turkmenistan (population - 5.0 million people), whose indicators by now are as follows: GDP per capita - 3.900 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 17%; average salary - $ 300; average pension - $ 70; average life expectancy - 65; employment of the population - 84%; the number of families with personal computers - 7.5%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 18%.
A loaf of bread in Turkmenistan costs US $ 0.3; 1 liter of milk - 1 US dollar; 1 liter of gasoline - $ 0.2; 1 Watt-hour of electricity - 0.0 (for the population - free of charge) US dollars; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Ashgabat) - $ 1,000.
The country is tightly closed from the outside world. Turkmenistan has established a strict visa regime with all CIS countries.
All large industrial enterprises are owned by the state. Slightly modified collective farms remain in the countryside, in which schoolchildren and students are required to work during the cotton harvest.
The land is given to everyone for rent, but the state itself determines what should be grown on it, giving a specific order and providing financial and technical assistance to tenants.
At the same time, the authorities are constantly introducing various benefits for the population. Import duties on cars are very low. All car owners are given 120 - 150 liters of gasoline per month free of charge, gas and electricity are supplied to their homes free of charge. On average, Turkmen pay no more than $ 50 a year for a two-room apartment. There are subsidies for bread, and salt is provided free of charge.
The closeness of Turkmenistan to tourists leads to the fact that new five-star hotels in Ashgabat are empty, as local citizens cannot use them due to their poverty. These hotels have become today a place of revelry for the Turkmen nobility.
The country's problem is the very low level of health care. Although modern medical centers have been built in Ashgabat, there is an acute shortage of qualified doctors - specialists, since most of them have retired or left for Russia. For this reason, Turkmen women give birth at home, which leads to high infant mortality.
In Turkmenistan, President Saparmurad Niyazov canceled pensions for peasants in 1998, stating that elderly people in rural areas should be supported by their children and grandchildren, and set pensions for urban residents at $ 10 a month. Today the situation is changing for the better - the new President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has established a pension for peasants in the amount of $ 25, returned benefits to disabled people and women in labor.
On fourteenth place in the rating of the development of the former Soviet republics for twenty years after their secession from the USSR, according to the estimates of Western experts, was Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyzstan) (population - 5.4 million people) with the following indicators: GDP per capita - 870 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 70%; average salary - $ 160; average pension - $ 50; average life expectancy - 67; employment of the population - 94%; the number of families with personal computers - 3%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 15%.
A loaf of bread in Kyrgyzstan costs $ 0.2; 1 liter of milk - USD 0.5; 1 liter of gasoline - 1 US dollar; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Bishkek) - $ 700.
Over the past six years, two presidents have been ousted in Kyrgyzstan - Askar Akayev in 2005 and Kurmanbek Bakiyev in 2007. There were pogroms in large cities, an interethnic bloody clash in the city of Osh between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Entire Uzbek neighborhoods were burned out.
Many experts believe that the cause of these clashes is the poverty of most of the local population, problems with education and employment, acute social inequality and corruption. For example, in 2010, over 60% of Kyrgyz citizens received wages below the subsistence level. About 30% of the Kyrgyz live below the poverty line. Food prices are very high.
Islam is actively reviving in Kyrgyzstan. If twenty years ago there were twenty mosques in the whole of Kyrgyzstan, today there are over 1,500 of them. Turkey plays the role of a conductor of Islamism in Kyrgyzstan, which paid over 70% of the cost of building mosques, and sends its emissaries-preachers. Much money comes from Kuwait to support Islamism.
The most developed sector of the economy in Kyrgyzstan today is textile production (30% of GDP). Gold mining accounts for 40% of export earnings.
The Russian language in Kyrgyzstan has an official status. Parliamentary and government pages on the Internet are maintained in Kyrgyz and Russian languages. However, the acting President of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva and a number of other leading Kyrgyz politicians believe that all education in the country should be translated only into the Kyrgyz language.
However, ordinary Kyrgyz see their future in Russia and therefore they learn Russian, and when they leave for Russia, they change their surnames to Russian. Today, over 600,000 Kyrgyz already live and work in Russia, and over 1 million outside the country in general (approximately 50% of the working population).
From Russia to Kyrgyzstan, its former citizens annually transfer 1.2-1.5 billion US dollars. For every second family in Kyrgyzstan, this is either the main or generally the only source of livelihood.
At the CIS summit in Dushanbe, representatives of Kyrgyzstan announced that their country intends to join the Customs Union (CU), but they want Kyrgyzstan to remain a member of the WTO as well.
Last thing, the fifteenth, place in the development rating is today, according to the conclusions of Western experts, Tajikistan (population - 7.5 million people), whose indicators are as follows: GDP per capita - 740 US dollars; the ratio of external debt to GDP - 45%; average salary - $ 85; average pension - $ 20; average life expectancy - 67; employment of the population - 85%; the number of families with a personal computer - 2%; the percentage of school graduates entering universities is 9%.
A loaf of bread in Tajikistan costs $ 0.2; 1 liter of milk - USD 0.5; 1 liter of gasoline - USD 1.5; 1 kWh of electricity - USD 0.03; 1 sq. meter of housing (in Dushanbe) - $ 700.
The country is pursuing a policy of total nationalization, all Soviet names and Turkic-language toponyms have completely disappeared from its geographical map. Even Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov renamed himself the "more Tajik" Rakhmon.
From 1992 to 1997 in Tajikistan there was a civil war in which over 55 thousand civilians died, and the country's economic potential was significantly weakened. Today Tajikistan is the poorest (after Afghanistan) country in the region. Since the beginning of the 90s, even Dushanbe has no centralized heating.
The political and economic influence of China is increasing in the country, with which Tajikistan, in exchange for humanitarian aid, signed agreements on the demarcation of the border that were beneficial to Beijing, giving up more than 1% of its territory to its neighbors.
According to Western journalists, the citizens of Tajikistan are confident that the authorities cannot but steal, and therefore strive to occupy leadership positions both for personal enrichment and to help their relatives and fellow villagers.
Important routes for the transit of drugs from Afghanistan to Europe pass through Tajikistan. The drug traffic is controlled by large mafia groups with connections in law enforcement agencies. However, in comparison with neighboring countries, there are few drug addicts in Tajikistan itself, and the law provides for long sentences for the cultivation of opium poppy. Every year Tajikistan receives large grants from international organizations to combat drug trafficking.
Imported goods in Tajikistan are very expensive, since the border with Uzbekistan is actually closed and therefore all goods are delivered along dangerous high-mountain roads through the Pamirs from Russia and China.
In Tajikistan, unlike Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the government officially recognizes the opposition and, in accordance with the peace treaty that ended the civil war, gives it up to a third of the seats in government bodies.
Opposition parties in Tajikistan, according to Western journalists and experts, are not ideological formations, but are only groups of lobbyists for the interests of various regions of the country.
India has a strong influence on the cultural life of Tajikistan. Tajik youth practically do not know Russian, but middle-aged people still speak it. Recently, there has been renewed interest in learning the Russian language among young people, which is caused by their desire to find a well-paid job in Russia.
"... According to statistics on per capita income in the 1980s, according to various estimates, the USSR lagged behind the United States by 2 times, but lagged behind Italy quite insignificantly. In comparison with Italy, the difference in consumption was, at most, more beautiful windows of city shops, but the living standard of the overwhelming majority of the population in the USSR was no lower than in Italy, and the "socialist" Czechs certainly lived much better than the "capitalist" Italians.Comparison based on natural indicators is more adequate. In this case, UN statistics, for example, reveal that the Soviet Union was in the top ten countries in terms of food quality .... "
Table 4. Comparison of indicators of economic development of the USSR and the USA in 1987 (data from the American reference book Soviet Economic Structura and Performance: let's pay attention to the spread of nominal figures in comparison with the upper table, but keeping the relative figures)
1987 indicators
USSR USSR1GDP $ 2375 billion $ 4436 billion
2 GDP per capita $ 8363 $ 18180.
3 Grain production 211 million tons 281 million tons.
4 Milk production 103 million tons 65 million tons.
5Production of potatoes 76 million tons 16 million tons.
6 Oil production 11.9 million barrels / day 8.3 million barrels / day
7 Gas production 25.7 trillion cubic meters feet 17.1 trillion. cubic feet
8 Electricity generation 1,665 billion kWh 2,747 billion kWh
9 Coal production 517 million tons 760 million tons
10Pig iron production 162 million tons 81 million tons
11Cement production 128 million tons. 63.9 million tons
12Aluminum production 3.0 million tons. 3.3 million tons
13Copper production - 1.0 million tons. 1.6 million tons
14 Extraction of iron ore 114 million tons. 44 million tons
15Production of plastics 6 million tons. 19 million tons
16 Bauxite production 7.7 million tons. 0.5 million tons
17 Vehicle production 1.3 mln. 7.1 million pieces
18 Truck production 0.9 mln. 3.8 million pcs.
19 Housing construction 129 million sq ft 224 million sq ft.
20 Gold production 10.6 MtOz 5.0 MtOz.
In general, objective statistics indicate that the Soviet Union achieved a high level of well-being, quite comparable to that of Western countries. The lag in the beauty of shop windows and in the consumption of prestigious goods and services (which, according to the purposeful policy of the leadership, should have been increased only after the basic prosperity for all, already provided by the economy of the USSR) should hardly have been a reason for the liquidation of an economy that had achieved such successes.
But here is the situation of the sevodnya
http://www.rb.ru/topstory/economics/...20/121547.htmlBloomberg has released a list of the most expensive cities in the world, based on data from the largest Swiss bank UBS. Experts also separately compared the incomes of people from different cities with the average salary of residents of the most expensive US metropolis - New York. As it turned out, the Russian capital is far from the leaders.
Lists of the most expensive cities in the world are regularly compiled by various agencies. At the same time, everyone has different methods. Moscow is often ranked first or second in the world as the most expensive city for foreigners to live in. At the same time, experts argue that the high cost of living for foreigners does not affect ordinary Muscovites. After all, ordinary residents of the capital do not visit restaurants and boutiques, where wealthy expats from Western countries go.
The research by the investment bank UBS "Prices and Earnings", released yesterday, is based on a comparison of living standards in the world's largest metropolitan areas by 122 positions. Read more about UBS rating parameters in add. material. The original text of the study can be found here.
Copenhagen, Oslo and Zurich are among the top three cities in terms of wages (before taxes). In Copenhagen, local workers pay 40.9% more than New York. In the Norwegian capital - by 39.1% compared to New York, in Zurich - by 30%.
New York itself has moved from 5th to 13th in the list over the past two years. He was outstripped by several cities of the European Union.
Moscow is in 48th place out of 70 in terms of wages. For a month of work, Muscovites receive four times less from the usual salary of a New Yorker. According to Rosstat, the average gross salary in Moscow is just over 20,000 a month.
The Indonesians live worst of all. Salaries in Jakarta are only 6.5% of New York's.
Where prices are higher
As you know, prices for products and services that make up living wage, is an important component of well-being.
Here, the "gold" prize-winner is still Oslo. Prices in this city are 44.2% higher than in New York. The "Silver" and "Bronze" winners have changed places: Copenhagen is the second this time, and London is the third.
New York, considered by many to be one of the most expensive cities on the planet, dropped from seventh to eighteenth.
The capital was overtaken by many developed cities: for example, Paris, New York and Berlin. But Moscow is ahead of Hong Kong, Dubai and Rio de Janeiro.
At the bottom of the list are cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The cheapest consumer lives in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Prices here are 40.5% lower than in New York.
Level purchasing power
The value of a salary is not only in its size, but in what you can buy with it. Copenhagen, Zurich and Berlin became the leaders in purchasing power (New York ranked 22nd). For example, in Copenhagen you can afford 37.4% more on a standard salary than in New York.
Moscow in terms of purchasing power dropped from 46th to 55th place, behind Istanbul, Tallinn, Riga, Budapest.
And here is a comparative analysis of Americans and Russians
Distribution of income in Russia and the USA
Publications
Igor Berezin
Lead Consultant Romir
President of the Guild of MarketersOnly Gd knows the true picture of the distribution of income in any country. Statistics, research and analytics can only try to get closer to this elusive reality. Paint a picture that "looks like the truth."
They often contrast “official statistics” with “expert assessments”. Although, in fact, "expert assessments" are made on the basis of primarily "official statistics" and data from "independent research". And “official statistics” is obtained from the “expert assessment” of accounting data, sample surveys and methods of mathematical modeling, as well as calculations in conditions of insufficient and inaccurate information by specialists of statistical agencies.
The US population is 275 million (2005). This is 115 million households and families. A family, a household can also consist of one person. The average household size in the United States is 2.4 people. Translated into an understandable language (so as not to get 1.5 diggers) per 100 households - 240 people. In the middle of the 19th century there were 450. Before World War II - 350.
The aggregate income of Americans in 2005 was 9 trillion (this is such a number with 12 zeros) US dollars. This nine trillion is 74% of US GDP. The average monetary income (not to be confused with GDP) per person is $ 32,900 per year. One household - $ 78,700. Or in terms of ranges - $ 70-90 thousand per year. Looking ahead, I will note that just over 10% of Americans in the core of the middle class have just such an income.
Americans have to make numerous voluntary-compulsory contributions from their cash income, which reduce the amount available by about a third. So consumer spending per household is just over $ 50,000 per year. And the total cost is about $ 6 trillion. It is the largest consumer market in the world. Bye. Until the European Union has become a single state. And so far, China has not realized its economic potential. Americans practically do not save. Those. of course, there are many Americans who make savings, but there are many more who are building up debt or cutting savings. So the total savings balance is +/- 2% of total income. At the same time, both the authorities and American companies are making a lot of efforts to ensure that Americans do not save, because this reduces current consumption, and a reduction in consumption leads to a decline in production, an increase in unemployment and other troubles.
2% of Americans (5.5 million people, 2.3 million households) are considered "Rich." The "rich" in the United States are those whose annual income exceeds $ 100,000 per person, and the family, therefore, - a quarter of a million dollars. The share of the "rich" accounts for 18% of the total monetary income of the population. This is $ 1650 billion a year. And also "rich" Americans own about 40% of all property in the United States. That's about $ 20 trillion.
The annual income of 2% of wealthy Americans is 2.35 times the combined income of all 150 million Russians
The "rich" in the United States can be divided, if desired, into: "THE RICHEST" "The very rich" and "just the rich." The “RICHEST” are the 0.5% of Americans who have incomes in excess of $ 1 million per year per household. There are about 550,000 such families in the United States. They are the American elite. She, in turn, is divided into the "hereditary elite" - 200 thousand families actually ruling in the United States for 3-4 generations. All sorts of Bushes, Carnegie, Mellons, Fords, Rockefellers, etc. And self-mademen are nouveau riches, first-generation and second-class millionaires. Gates, Spielbergs, Kirkorians, Welches, etc. 550 thousand "Very rich" are families with annual income from $ 500 thousand to a million. They account for half the income of the "RICHEST"; and about the same as on the "just rich", which is twice as many, and whose annual income ranges from $ 250 to $ 500 thousand per year.
The wealthy in America live in homes worth a million dollars or more. The richest are in family estates. They buy expensive cars. They go on cruises. Their children study in private schools and the best universities in the country. As a rule, they have their own family doctor - a highly qualified specialist. Representatives of the hereditary elite are not inclined to demonstrative consumption. They can also go to a "regular" supermarket. Buy ready-made clothes. They don't need to prove anything to anyone. They assert themselves through the consumption of the nouveau riche. For them: jewelry with diamonds of several carats, clothes from the world's leading designers, cars adorned with rhinestones, five-star hotels for pets and other attributes of ostentatious consumption.
The middle class in the United States is 1.2 times the size of the entire population of Russia
About 23 million families (55 million people, 20% of the country's population) have incomes ranging from $ 100 to $ 250 thousand per year. This is the beauty and pride of America. American upper middle class. It accounts for about 40% of total revenues - $ 3700 billion per year. This is more than two times more than all the "Rich" ones, but the upper middls themselves are 10 times more than the "Rich" ones.
Upper middles can afford a house of 250-500 sq. m. for 350-800 thousand dollars. Moreover, they will not need a mortgage for 25 years. An ordinary loan for 10-12 years is enough, with payments from $ 50 to $ 100 thousand per year. Every two years, they buy themselves a new car that costs between $ 25,000 and $ 50,000. Also on credit for 3-4 years. Their children also study in good schools and universities. They probably don't have a family doctor, but they have very good medical insurance. And also a very good retirement plan. With the expectation that after 65 years old to receive a pension of $ 5-10 thousand per month. The "upper middle" are not as free in their choice of consumer behavior as the rich. For most of them, with the exception of “free artists,” the consumer model is dictated by the environment: corporate standards, neighbors and communities, clubs, and the media.
A quarter of the US population (29 million families, 69 million people) have incomes from $ 50 to $ 100 thousand per family per year. Or $ 1750-3500 per month per person. This, in fact, is - the American "MIDDLE CLASS". His gross annual income is $ 2 trillion, or 22% of the gross income of Americans. It should be noted that in the USA the concepts of “middle class” and “statistical average in terms of income” practically coincide.
Homes for middle-class Americans are about 200 square meters. m., and cost $ 300-400 thousand. With a down payment of $ 100,000 and a mortgage for 25 years, the cumulative payments are well over half a million. This is 20-25 thousand a year, on average. Half of middle school students buy new cars every 3-4 years. The other half are content with used cars, changing them every two years. Middle-class children attend decent public or denominational schools. In order to get a good higher education young man from the middle class, one must either have the ability or take out a loan for 10-12 years. Middle-class families have health insurance that can pay for treatment for "moderate" illnesses. A serious illness even in one family member that is not covered by insurance pushes such a family to the sidelines of the consumer society. The pension plan is able to provide a representative of the middle class with a pension of $ 2-3 thousand per month. Quite a tolerable existence, provided that the loans are repaid by the time of retirement.
Another 20% of the population is the lower middle class. Families with income from $ 32.5 to $ 50 thousand per year; or $ 1150-1750 per month per family member. The combined income of this group is just under one trillion dollars a year. It must be admitted that in material terms, this group is already having a very hard time. Although, a lot, of course, depends on whether the family lives in an "expensive" or "modest" state (the difference in the price level between California and any state of the Midwest can reach two times the level), family composition, health status, educational ambitions, housing situation and other factors.
Lower-middle families live in apartments of less than 100 square meters. m. or houses of 100-150 square meters. Houses, usually old, were inherited. The incomes of the "lower middle" do not allow counting on a mortgage. With the cost of the most modest house or apartment at $ 150-200 thousand, an initial payment of $ 15-30 thousand and an installment plan for 30 years, the annual payments would have to be the same $ 20-25 thousand per year, i.e. from 50% to three quarters of the total family income. This is unacceptable. Not for the family, not for the mortgage agency, not for the bank. Lower-middle families don't buy new cars. But every two years they change their old car for a “new” one - the same used one, but newer, or “cooler”. Children study in regular public schools, about which Americans themselves rarely say good things. To study in a decent university, a person from the lower middle class must have some outstanding talents, if not in the subject of his future profession, then at least sports. Medical insurance with minimal options. Most often, within the framework of some regular federal program type "Medic-Aid". Pension - $ 1-1.5 thousand. Well, so as not to stretch your legs.
Total - American middle class broadly defined:
65% of the country's population, 180 million people, 75 million families;
72% of the total income of the population - $ 6.65 trillion per year.Citizens whose monthly income does not exceed $ 1150 in the United States are considered poor (the upper poverty line in the United States is considered the subsistence level multiplied by 2.5), and are entitled to different kinds assistance from the state. True, these manuals and forms for filling out documents still need to be able to figure it out. "Poor" in the United States - a third of the population: 91 million people, 38 million families. And they account for less than 10% of the total income of the country's population - $ 800 billion.
13% of the "Poorest" Americans, with incomes of less than $ 700 a month per person by American standards, are out of line. No matter how hard it is to imagine an ordinary Russian who receives $ 500 in salary, on which a family of four lives "at the very least," and lack of medical attention.
Among the American poor, there are also homeless people - 6-7% of the country's population. True, almost everyone has a car, even half of the poorest. Naturally, we are not talking about buying a new car at all. Half of the poor (16-18% of the population) have no health insurance at all. But 90% of children from poor families still go to school. A child from a poor family can get to university only after winning the Olympics, or after serving 5-7 years in the American army. A poor man's pension is the same as a poverty benefit: $ 450-750 per month.
Table 1. Income distribution of the US population. 2005th year.
The total income of the population of Russia is 13 times less than that of the population of the United States. The total expenditures per household are 5 times less. Bye.
The population of Russia is about 150 million people. Those. officially - 143 million. But, there are still either 2-3, or 10-15 million "guest workers", "transit emigrants", "illegal emigrants", "who did not have time to receive emigration documents", etc. citizens. For convenience, we will assume - 150 million.
According to the 2002 census, the average size of a family and household in Russia is 2.75. According to the 1989 census, it was 2.84. According to the 1979 census - 2.93. This is where the cliché comes from: "the average family is three people." Before the Great Patriotic War there were four people. At the end of the 19th century, there were five. In general, the processes are the same as in America. With a small time lag. Total - 54.5 million families, households. According to official figures - 52.5 million.
According to the State Statistics Committee, the total income of the population of Russia in 2006 amounted to 16.8 trillion rubles. That's $ 622 billion. This is 63% of Russian GDP. Due to the fact that Goskomstat, it seems to me, somewhat underestimates the volume of GDP located in the “shadow zone” (the official estimate is 25%, mine is 35%), as well as the “shadow” or “unobservable” part of income (figures are the same ), I expertly re-estimate the total revenue to $ 700 billion in 2006.
For those for whom "honest word" is not enough, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with my previous publications on this topic in the journal "Practical Marketing" for 2002-2005, as well as with an article published in 2002 in the journal "Expert". These publications are available in the public domain on the website of the Guild of Marketers - www.marketologi.ru. In 2004, the deputy chairman of the statistics committee, on the air of Mayak 24 radio, admitted that my calculations and considerations were not unfounded, and the statistics committee had no special grounds, and no desire to dispute them. Goskomstat will strongly object to the fact that GDP and revenues are 2-3 times higher / lower than the official data. But against the fact that they can be 10-15% higher - no.
Russians spend about 10% of their monetary income ($ 70 billion) on taxes, contributions and mandatory payments. Another 12-14% ($ 85-100 billion) goes to the growth of savings. Russians save a much larger part of their income compared to Europeans, where the figure is 4-5%. But, less in comparison with Asian countries (China, India), where it can reach up to 25%.
In 2006, residents of Russia spent about $ 535 billion on the purchase of goods and payment for services. Russia has become the 10th largest consumer market in the world, behind only the G7, China and India.
So: $ 700 billion for 150 million people. At $ 4667 per person per year. Just under $ 400 per month. Or 10,500 rubles. By the way, in the spring of 2007, this was already the official one (without expert re-evaluations) average income per capita of the Russian population. Average income per household is $ 12,850 per year. This is six times lower than in the United States. And disposable income (after taxes and mandatory contributions) is 4.5 times lower.
Probably 1% of Russians can be considered “Rich”. They account for almost 15% of the total income of the population. Or about $ 100 billion a year. A month - about $ 5500 per capita. $ 180 thousand per year per household. But this is on average. If desired, in Russia, according to the above scheme, it is possible to distinguish "The richest" (100 thousand families), "Very rich" (150-200 thousand families) and "just rich" (250-300 thousand families). Those interested can practice arithmetic themselves.
But there is no "hereditary elite" in Russia. The "old" one had degenerated by the middle of the 19th century, and the "new" had not had time to form. During the first 35 years of Soviet power, the process of forming a hereditary elite was hampered by a system of preventive terror. And by the end of the second 35-year period, Soviet power ended, the regime changed, and the social system as a whole. In general, it did not work out with the elite. There are exclusively nouveau riches (they are also “quick-rich”) and self-made-men (I don’t know an adequate Russian term). Maybe because of this, too, many of our today's problems?
It is not interesting to describe the consumer behavior of wealthy Russians. This is an unsympathetic mix of the consumption standards of the American nouveau riche of the 90s and the gangsters of the 30s of the last century, perceived through the masterpieces of American cinema. No humor.
This is followed by a group of approximately 5% of the country's population (7.5 million people, 2.7 million families) with incomes from $ 33 to $ 80 thousand per year per household. Or $ 1-2.5 thousand per month for a family member. This is the upper part of the Russian middle class. It accounts for about 18.5% of total revenues; $ 130 billion a year.
Having accumulated 1.5-2 annual family income (in the "austerity" mode, this can be done in 3-4 years, and without fanaticism - in 7-10 years), these families are quite able to solve their housing problem, without any mortgage or credit , by exchanging with a surcharge your current apartment for a large (80-120 sq. m.) and better. Or by building a country house of 120-180 sq. m. The only city where it will not be possible to do this is Moscow. But Moscow is a special case and a separate conversation. In Moscow, the "upper average" starts at $ 1.5-2 thousand per month per family member and extends to $ 3.5-4.5 thousand.
Almost all (except for workaholics, lovers of native open spaces and their own summer cottages) "upper average" Russians annually go to rest abroad. They "arrange" their children in good "free" schools, and, if necessary, can pay for university studies (except perhaps for the most prestigious and expensive ones). They have medical insurance and "attachment" to a good clinic, most likely a "departmental" one. Once every 3-4 years, the upper middlemen buy a new car (not a Zhiguli) for $ 15-30 thousand. "Upper middle" aged 40 to 50 begin to think about a personal retirement plan with the "aim" that after 60 they would receive $ 500-700 per month in "today's money". It is from this group that small private investors are recruited in Russia, of which today (mid-2007) there are already about 400-500 thousand.
Families with incomes from $ 500 to $ 1000 per month per family member, or $ 16-32 thousand per year for the whole family - this is the Russian middle class. Slightly less than 20% of families and 10 million households have such incomes in Russia. In Russia (so far), the boundaries of the middle class do not coincide with the statistical mean.
The Russian middle class lives in apartments of 45-75 sq. m. (2-3 rooms), in houses built in the post-war period (1950-1990). In the early 90s, these apartments were privatized and now form the basis of family ownership. Middle-class families can solve their housing problems by exchanging the existing apartment for a large one (60-100 sq. M.) With an additional payment. On average, one middle-class family “lacks” 15-20 square meters. m. That in monetary terms is $ 20-25 thousand in regional centers, $ 30-50 thousand in the capitals of federal districts and $ 70-100 in Moscow. Of course, a clear credit scheme for such an exchange would not be in the way. But, the middle class can cope without it.
The middle class travels to have a rest in very economical "abroad" such as Egypt or Turkey. Not every year. There is not enough Turkey for everyone every year. Crimea, the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory, the middle zone of Russia, the north (not extreme) - these are typical places for rest of the middle class. Middle-class children study in middle-level schools. If absolutely necessary, parents can pay for tuition at a not very expensive university ($ 700-1200 per semester). Medical services have to be dispensed with "departmental" and "district". If it is necessary to regularly pay for expensive medical services, the family leaves the middle class in 1.5 years. Average Russians buy a new car every 3-4 years for $ 10-20 thousand. It can be a "fancy" "Lada", and a "Russian foreign car", and a used (4-8 years old) European or Japanese car in fair condition. Average Russians expect to retire at $ 300-400 in today's money. And some of them (not a very large part) are even beginning to do something for this.
The income group, which can be conventionally called the “lower middle class”, coincides with the statistical average. 8-13 thousand rubles ($ 300-500) per month per family member. Or $ 10-15 thousand per year for the whole family. Roughly speaking, $ 1000 per month for a family. This is another 10 million families.
Just like their American “classmates”, the Russians of the lower middle class are not at all sweet in the material sense. The key problem today is the impossibility of improving housing conditions. Yes, lower middle class families have an apartment of 40-65 sq. m. In order to "make" of it 70-80 sq. m. m. you need $ 35-50 thousand (1-1.5 million rubles). Under the most lenient conditions, only the interest on the loan will have to be paid 100-150 thousand rubles a year. This is half of the family's total annual income. Doesn't work. No options.
Summer vacation "lower middle" - this is a dacha (at best), trips to friends or stay at home. Children study in those schools that are "attached" to the area of residence. It is possible to pay for studies at a university only by combining it with work, which is what the majority of students from this social group do. Medical insurance within the compulsory minimum. And services of the same level. It's scary to think about retirement. On the other hand, food and non-food items of daily demand are available without explicit restrictions. And three years ago, household appliances became available thanks to an express lending system with "draconian" interest rates (25-60% per annum in real terms). The car is used for $ 3500-7000, every five years.
Total - the Russian middle class in a broad definition:
41% of the country's population, 62 million people, 23 million families;
66% of the total income of the population - $ 460 billion a year.The living wage in Russia in late 2006 - early 2007 reached 3200 rubles per month per person. Let's use the American criterion and multiply by 2.5. The poor in Russia are those whose income is less than 8,000 rubles ($ 300) per month per family member. And such - more than half of the population (57%). Incl. 40% are simply poor and 17% are very, very poor. Whose income is below the subsistence level. Only dynamics can please here. Three years ago, more than a quarter of the country's population was “out of line”.
The share of the "poor" in Russia collectively accounts for even more income than the share of the "rich" ($ 140 billion a year). But the former are 57 times more than the latter. By the way, in the United States, the total income of the rich is exactly twice the total income of the poor. But, the poor in the United States are relatively fewer - "only" 33% of the population. And there are only 17 times more poor people in the United States than rich people, and not 57 times, as in Russia.
There are relatively few homeless people among the Russian poor (no more than 3% of the country's population). If the housing market were more flexible, then 10-15% of the poor could move to the middle class only by “exchanging” the available housing for a more modest and monetary rent guaranteed by the state or the largest Russian banks with Western capital “ in a share ". First of all, this applies to single elderly people and families of retirees. But there are practically no cars in Russian poor families, in contrast to American ones. The poor have to be content with the remnants of the post-Soviet education and health care systems, which have degraded monstrously over the past 15 years. It is no coincidence that among the so-called. national projects for the reform of these systems occupy almost the first positions. In words. At least one third of the poor are pensioners. And they are poor precisely because in Russia a pension is not a rent earned over the previous 35-45 years of not sickly labor efforts, but a beggarly allowance for old age and disability.
Table 2. Distribution of incomes of the population of Russia. 2006th year.
The key phrase about what the dispute is going on was highlighted in a special way .....)))))
The USSR ceased to exist many years ago, 15 successor countries developed in different ways during the years of independence. Which of these countries have succeeded in the HDI indicator, and which have not, we will consider in this rating. Index human development(HDI)- This is an aggregate indicator of the level of human development in the country, therefore it is sometimes used as a synonym for such concepts as "quality of life" or "standard of living". When calculating the HDI, 3 types of indicators: life expectancy, literacy and general living standards of the population.
15
- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.627 (average)
- GDP (PPP):$ 27.8 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $3 146
- Population: 8 991 725 people
- Form of government: presidential republic
- Capital: Dushanbe
The capital of Tajikistan is the city of Dushanbe. This city has the highest wages in the country. The average salary is two hundred dollars. In other cities of the state, it does not rise above one hundred. To our great regret, today the health care system in Tajikistan is at a rather low level. The blame for everything is total unemployment and a low level of salaries... More and more Tajik doctors are striving to leave the republic in search of a better life. In the country corruption is rampant, and it is for this reason that all nested financial resources do not give a result.
Economic growth in Tajikistan is largely based on the domestic consumption of the population, the main source of which is external remittances, which significantly replenish the state budget. At the moment, the amount of transfers from post-Soviet countries to Tajikistan is $ 2.4 billion, this amount is almost doubles the size of the budget country. Economic crisis in Russia and the tightening of its migration legislation slow down the growth of the economy of Tajikistan.
Tajikistan is rich in natural resources, but since 94.1% of the republic's territory is occupied by mountains, their extraction is difficult underdeveloped infrastructure... Tajikistan is located far from the main Eurasian traffic flows.
Life expectancy in Tajikistan, according to the World Health Organization, is 69.7 years (for men - 66.6; for women - 73.6). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 114 .
14
- In the world HDI ranking: 120 place
- HDI: 0.664 (average)
- GDP (PPP):$ 21 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $3 467
- Population: 6 140 200 people
- Form of government: parliamentary republic
- Capital: Bishkek
In the Kyrgyz Republic, the level of maternal mortality over the past decade has remained stably high and does not show positive dynamics. At the moment level indicators maternal mortality in Kyrgyzstan are the highest among the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The maternal mortality rate in the country has practically not dropped below 47 deaths per 100,000 live births over the past decade. Average salary is about $ 200.
The economy of Kyrgyzstan consists mainly of industry and the service sector, and less than half of the working-age population is employed in the service sector. In 2011, the amount of cash migrant remittances accounted for 29% of GDP country. The industry is represented by energy and mining. There are enterprises in the light and food industries. The filling station market is partially controlled by the Gazprom Neft corporation, which owns up to 63% of filling stations in the north of the country. In the 1990s, the republic experienced de-industrialization and a large decline, even by Central Asian standards: the GDP of Kyrgyzstan in 1990-2001 decreased by 10.35 times. A serious problem is public external debt, which in 2008 - 2012 increased sharply: from $ 2.083 billion to $ 3.031 billion. A significant part of agricultural products are exported.
From the bowels of Kyrgyzstan are mined gold, mercury, tin, tungsten... Previously, intensive coal mining was carried out.
Life expectancy in Kyrgyzstan, according to the World Health Organization, is 71.1 years (for men - 67.2; for women - 75.1). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state ranks 105 .
13
- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.688 (average)
- GDP (PPP):$ 99.6 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $8 724
- Population: 5 490 563 people
- Form of government: presidential republic
- Capital: Ashgabat
Back in the nineties, Turkmenistan was considered not the best country to live in. This opinion was influenced by political factors, the economic level of development and the ideology of the population of Turkmenistan. Today this state is no longer so economically unstable. Every year the country is slowly but surely increasing the pace of development in various areas. Average salary is about $ 150.
Limited privatization has taken place in Turkmenistan, mainly in the service sector. Industry, agriculture, energy, transport and communications are still mainly government sector... As a result, many government services remain free and dependent on subsidies. The main industries are oil and natural gas refining and processing; production of glass, fabrics (mainly cotton) and clothing; food industry. Industrial development is slowing down due to shrinking sales markets in the CIS countries and strong jumps in world prices for raw materials.
Turkmenistan - 4th in the world in terms of natural gas reserves... Possesses the second largest gas field in the world. From 1993 to November 1, 2017 in Turkmenistan there were limits on free electricity, water use and gas consumption, which had no analogue in the whole world. However, on November 1, 2017, these benefits were canceled due to the fact that, according to the government of Turkmenistan, “citizens have enough funds to pay for communal and housing services, and benefits were introduced in connection with the disastrous economic situation country".
Life expectancy in Turkmenistan, according to the World Health Organization, is 66.3 years (for men - 62.2; for women - 70.5). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 133 .
12
- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.693 (average)
- GDP (PPP):$ 17.9 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $5 039
- Population: 3 550 900 people
- Form of government: parliamentary republic
- Capital: Kishinev
The Republic of Moldova inherited from the USSR a developed system of secondary education and health care. The system of public administration in the country is adapted to the European one and is largely copied from the Romanian one. There is a rather serious difference between life in large cities of the country and its hinterland. In Chisinau average salary 20% higher than the national average and is 5,716 lei ($ 346)... The highest salaries in Moldova are received by public sector workers, including the military personnel of the Moldovan army.
Moldova belongs to the category of agro-industrial countries. The climate of Moldova is favorable for agriculture. There are no deposits of mineral resources in the country, with the exception of deposits of nonmetallic minerals - cauldron (limestone wall stone) and raw materials for the production of cement, in connection with which the country's economy is based on agriculture... Almost all energy resources are imported. 80% of electricity was previously supplied from the unrecognized Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika, where the Moldavskaya GRES is located, since April 2017 Moldova began to purchase electricity from Ukraine.
A significant number of Moldovan citizens left the country as labor migrants... At the moment remittances account for about a quarter of the country's GDP from them. Russia, Romania and Ukraine are the main directions of labor migration of residents of Moldova. Also, a lot of Moldovans work in the EU countries. On the territory of Russia and Ukraine, the main centers of concentration of Moldovan labor migrants are Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev. In European countries, the most significant part of Moldovans works in Romania.
Life expectancy in Moldova, according to the World Health Organization, is 72.1 years (for men - 67.9; for women - 76.2). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 98 .
11
- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.701 (high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 223 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $6 929
- Population: 32 900 100 people
- Form of government: presidential republic
- Capital: Tashkent
The low standard of living forces many citizens of Uzbekistan to seek their happiness in other countries. Most often, people tend to go to places where the standard of living is high enough. They leave for Russia, Kazakhstan and foreign countries. The national average salary is $ 235.
The economy of Uzbekistan is one of the largest in the Central Asian region. In recent years, it has been dynamically and steadily developing and growing. Uzbekistan - industrialized state, the industry of various industries accounts for more than fifty percent of the gross domestic product. This is followed by such industries as agriculture, construction, freight and passenger transportation, trade and services.
By reserves the republic ranks 4th in gold in the world, and in terms of its production it is 7th place (about 92 tons of gold annually), in terms of copper reserves - 10-11 place; uranium - 11-12 place, and in its production - 7-8 place. A powerful mineral resource base has been created in Uzbekistan, which is one of the main items of foreign exchange earnings in the country's economy. Today this base is made up of more than 1,800 deposits and about 1,644 prospective occurrences of minerals, 118 types of mineral raw materials, of which 65 are being developed. Mineral resources of Uzbekistan are estimated by experts at about 11 trillion dollars.
Life expectancy in Uzbekistan, according to the World Health Organization, is 69.4 years (66.1 for men; 72.7 for women). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 116 .
10
- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.627 (high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 353 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $8 272
- Population: 42 248 598 people
- Form of government: parliamentary-presidential republic
- Capital: Kiev
The standard of living in Ukraine has long been lower than in Russia. People pinned their hopes for improvement with the change of government and European integration. After the events on the Maidan, the life of Ukrainians has changed a lot. In material terms - for the worse. The reforms have not yet brought tangible improvement. On the other hand, ordinary people began to realize that they can influence the decisions of the authorities and even the course of history. The median salary in the country is approximately $ 230.
After the collapse of the USSR, starting in 1992, the country experienced a progressive de-industrialization, which took on a total character in the field of high-tech industries and mechanical engineering. By 1999, GDP bottomed out at about 40% of the 1991 level... Metallurgical, chemical and other energy-intensive industries with low added value turned out to be in a somewhat better position. Ukraine is considered export-oriented country According to some estimates, it receives 50% of its GDP from exports.
In the bowels of Ukraine revealed about 20,000 deposits and manifestations of 117 types of minerals. Of these, 8,172 deposits with reserves of 94 types of mineral raw materials are of industrial importance. The industrial development involved 2,868 deposits, where more than 2,000 mining and processing enterprises operate. In Ukraine, oil, gas, coal, peat, shale, uranium deposits have been developed and discovered; iron, manganese, chromium and nickel, titanium, magnesium, as well as aluminum, copper, zinc, lead. There are in the bowels of the country gold, silver, mercury, beryllium, lithium, zirconium, hafnium, tantalum, niobium, cobalt, tin, tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, yttrium and lanthanides, and scattered elements germanium, scandium.
Life expectancy in Ukraine, according to the World Health Organization, is 71.3 years (for men - 66.3; for women - 76.1). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 103 .
9
- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.743 (high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 20.8 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $6 128
- Population: 2 986 100 people
- Form of government: parliamentary republic
- Capital: Yerevan
Armenia is known to many as a country of majestic mountains. This state in Transcaucasia has incredibly beautiful nature, unique traditions, stunning color and hospitable population. But despite all these advantages, Armenia can hardly be called one of the most developed countries. This republic is only gaining momentum in its development. Not so long ago, the Armenian Republic joined the Customs Union. This accession had a very favorable effect on prices in Armenia, the standard of living of its population, as well as customs regulations entering and leaving the country. The median salary in the country is $ 383.
In Soviet times, a modern industry was created in Armenia, Armenia supplied domestic market USSR machine tools and equipment, textile and other industrial products in exchange for supplies of raw materials and electricity. Agriculture developed on the basis of large agro-industrial complexes... The Karabakh conflict, the severance of intra-union economic ties and the closure of the Turkish-Armenian border led to a serious economic downturn in the early 1990s. Many factories and factories stopped due to lack of raw materials and energy resources, agriculture returned back to small-market economy. Since gaining independence, a number of market reforms have been implemented in Armenia, including privatization, pricing reform and the transition to a thrifty fiscal policy, however geographic isolation, limited export resources and monopolization of the main economic sectors made Armenia particularly sensitive to the crisis in the world economy and the economic downturn in Russia.
industrial-agrarian country... The country has significant reserves of copper-molybdenum and polymetallic ores, bauxite, building stone, mineral waters, deposits of precious metals (gold), semi-precious and ornamental stones. The production of synthetic rubber, the textile industry, the food industry, the production of building materials and mechanical engineering are well developed.Life expectancy in Ukraine, according to the World Health Organization, is 74.8 years (for men - 71.6; for women - 77.7). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state ranks 72 .
8
- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.751 (high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 168.4 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $17 500
- Population: 9,574,000 people
- Form of government: presidential republic
- Capital: Baku
In the period 2004-2008. in Azerbaijan, significant progress has been made in the field of education. The state pays great attention to the sphere of education. In expenses state budget Azerbaijan large funds are allocated for education... Education spending is second only to military spending. In 2009, they amounted to about 1 billion manats, which made it possible to strengthen the material and technical base of education, as well as to lead learning programs in line with the highest world level. The median salary in the country is about $ 320.
Azerbaijan in recent years leads among the CIS countries in terms of economic growth... In 2003-2008, Azerbaijan's GDP grew 2.6 times; the level of poverty in the state, since 2003, has decreased from 45 to 11%. In 2006, the country's GDP grew by 36.6% to $ 20.4 billion. Economic growth has continued continuously since 1996; for ten years, the economy of Azerbaijan has grown on average by 13.6% annually (compared to 1995, the size of GDP increased by 8.4 times).
industrial-agrarian country with highly developed industry and diversified agriculture... The most important place in the economy of Azerbaijan is occupied by oil and gas production, oil refining, chemical (mineral fertilizers, synthetic rubber, automobile tires, etc.), engineering, mining industry (extraction of iron ore and alunite) and nonferrous metallurgy, various food industries (canning, tea , tobacco, wine-making) and light (ginning, cotton, silk, woolen, carpet weaving) industries.Life expectancy in Ukraine, according to the World Health Organization, is 72.7 years (for men - 69.6; for women - 75.8). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 96 .
7
- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.769 (high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 37.2 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $9 172
- Population: 3 729 600 people
- Form of government: parliamentary republic
- Capital: Tbilisi
The calm and carefree life of today's citizen of this country cannot be called. According to a sociological poll, which is periodically conducted by the Georgian authorities in conjunction with the American National Democratic Institute, 66% of the country's population is not satisfied with the current economic and political situation. Today more than 365 thousand inhabitants live below the official poverty line. This is a little less than a tenth of the total population. The monthly living wage for a family of four is $ 127 (GEL 290). He clearly cannot be called tall. Wherein the average income of the same family per month is about 176 dollars (400 lari)... There are practically no opportunities to make large purchases, purchase real estate or travel to foreign resorts. One of the main problems of today's Georgia is massive unemployment.
As part of the USSR, the Georgian economy was rapidly industrialized. Between 1913 and 1975, the country's national income grew almost 90 times. The national income per capita in the 1970s was 3/4 of the average all-union level. The country's economy has changed from agrarian to industrial and post-industrial. In 1990, the service sector accounted for over 40% of the employed and the industry for 27%. During the Soviet era, Georgia had a developed industry, specializing in the production of food, cast iron, coal, steel pipes, oil products, fertilizers, machine tools, locomotives, aircraft assembly. The crisis in the Georgian economy after the collapse of the USSR was aggravated by the fact that in 1992 Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia imposed a ban on Georgia's trade with Russia. Already in 1992, the volume of Georgian industrial production decreased by 40%.
Territory of Georgia rich in natural resources... On the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus there are large deposits of manganese, silver-lead and zinc ores, barite, coal, marble. Oil fields have been explored within the Kakheti Plain, and oil and peat deposits have been found in the Kolkheti Lowland. In some areas, copper, zinc, arsenic, mercury, talc, marl, limestone, iron, gold, granite, marble are mined.
Life expectancy in Georgia, according to the World Health Organization, is 74.4 years (for men - 70.3; for women - 78.3). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 81 .
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- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.794 (very high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 460.7 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $25 669
- Population: 18,157,078 people
- Form of government: presidential republic
- Capital: Astana
Kazakhstan is a unique state created in the XX century and successfully passed into the XXI with the same leader. Its borders have been preserved, as has the composition of the population, which has stabilized after a short period of migration of Russians, Germans and Koreans out of the country. Availability of natural resources and geographical position at the junction of Europe and Asia, they create preconditions for successful development for Kazakhstan, and a relatively prosperous life for its population. The average salary in the country is about $ 450.
In the period from 1991 to 1995, there was an economic downturn in Kazakhstan. The country's economy was in an environment of high inflation, imbalance of income and expenditure budget system sustainable budget deficit, higher energy prices, uncontrolled monopoly of producers. Soft monetary policy plus price liberalization, which resulted in a desire to raise prices to world levels, led to hyperinflation, which exceeded 2500% in 1992... Kazakhstan in these conditions needed to develop a tough financial and monetary policy, as well as in the introduction of their own national currency. On November 15, 1993, by the decree of the Head of State N. Nazarbayev, the national currency was introduced - tenge.
possesses a variety of minerals. In the bowels of Kazakhstan, 99 elements of the periodic table have been identified, reserves of 70 have been explored, more than 60 elements have been involved in the production... Currently, 493 deposits are known containing 1225 types of mineral raw materials. Kazakhstan ranks first in the world in proven reserves of zinc, tungsten and barite, second in silver, lead and chromite, third in copper and fluorite, fourth in molybdenum, fifth in gold. At the beginning of 2009, BP's proven oil reserves amounted to 39.6 billion barrels or 6.5 billion tons, which is 3.2% of the world's oil reserves.Today the economy of Kazakhstan is the largest economy in Central Asia, the second economy in the post-Soviet space. Since January 1, 2015, the republic is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. Of the big drawbacks, it is worth noting a gradual decline in the GDP growth rate, lack of continuity of power, the raw material nature of the economy, a fairly high level of corruption in all spheres of life.
Life expectancy in Kazakhstan, according to the World Health Organization, is 70.5 years (for men - 65.7; for women - 74.7). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 110 .
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- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.796 (very high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 175.9 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $18 600
- Population: 9 491 823 people
- Form of government: presidential republic
- Capital: Minsk
Belarus is very dependent on Russian Federation, which purchases most of its goods and provides the country with cheap raw materials. No wonder that the deterioration of the financial situation in Russia negatively affected the economy country. In 2016, the gross domestic product of the republic decreased by 4%, and in dollar terms, the drop in GDP amounted to a record 40%. This could not but affect the real incomes of the population: in 2016 they decreased by 7.5%. Most experts believe that the Belarusian economy will not face significant changes in the near future. The median salary in the country is about $ 430.
The economy in Belarus is built on the principles socially oriented market model... The structure of the economy of Belarus is characterized by the dominance state property in the manufacturing, energy, transport, mining, construction, agricultural and banking sectors, and a small share of the private sector. There is no centralized distribution and planning, except for macroeconomic indicators. The state regulates prices for socially significant groups of goods. The country has developed energy, mechanical engineering, agriculture, chemical and forestry industries, construction, production of building materials and mining. The problem of Belarus is lack of open sources of hydrocarbons.
Belarus is a country rich in forests and plains, characterized by sod-podzolic and sod-boggy soils. A temperate continental climate prevails. On the territory of the country there are more than 10 thousand fresh lakes, about 30% of the land is wetlands. There are about 4 thousand deposits of various mineral raw materials in Belarus. The first place in terms of reserves is potash salt. There are reserves in the country of rock salt, peat, raw materials for the construction industry (granite, dolomite, limestone, chalk, etc.).
Life expectancy in Belarus, according to the World Health Organization, is 72.3 years (for men - 66.5; for women - 78). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 97 .
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- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.804 (very high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 3.86 trillion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $26 926
- Population: 146 880 432 people
- Form of government: presidential republic
- Capital: Moscow
Despite the rise in oil prices, the standard of living in Russia continues to decline. In November 2017, the indicator reflecting the amount that remains on hand after all obligatory payments, taking into account inflation, decreased by another 0.3%, according to Rosstat. In the capital, the average salary is 60 thousand rubles a month, in some regions it is even higher. The average salary in the country is about 32 thousand rubles per month, but this is partially offset by lower prices in the provinces than in Moscow.
In the 1990s, the country's economy experienced a deep recession accompanied by a surge in inflation, a decrease in investment, a shortage of goods, an increase in external debt, barterization of the economy, a decrease in household incomes and many other negative phenomena. During the decade, a number of economic reforms were carried out, including the liberalization of prices and foreign trade, and mass privatization. One of the results of the reforms was the transition of the country's economy from a planned to a market one.
Russian economy sixth among the countries of the world in terms of GDP at PPP... High external demand and relatively high prices for Russian oil stimulate the development of production and increase exports. At the same time, the domestic market is growing more slowly than the world one, and the domestic Russian oil prices are lower than the world ones. Oil industry acts as the largest supplier of foreign exchange funds to the Russian budget. Due with falling prices for hydrocarbons, the share of the oil and gas industry in budget revenues has significantly decreased: from 32.6% in 2014 to 22.4% in 2016. Most of the income from the growth of oil prices goes to the state. In this regard, the federal budget suffers primarily from the decline in oil prices, while the financial indicators of companies change insignificantly.
Life expectancy in Russia, according to the World Health Organization, is 70.5 years (for men - 64.7; for women - 76.3). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 109 .
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- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.830 (very high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 53.5 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $29 489
- Population: 1 934 379 people
- Form of government: parliamentary republic
- Capital: Riga
The proximity of the sea, low prices compared to the rest of Europe and the ease of starting a business attract many emigrants to Latvia. At the same time, they are not afraid of the damp climate and the difficulties of professional growth in a country whose population is smaller than the population of Moscow and the region. A calm and measured life in Latvia remains very attractive for many. The average monthly salary in Latvia is 890 euros.
Membership in the European Union has allowed Latvia to significantly expand trade relations with European states, especially with Germany, Sweden and Great Britain. Russia remains Latvia's traditional trading partner. Latvia has the third smallest budget deficit - 0.9%. The republic's public debt is currently the fifth smallest in the EU. Strict financial discipline helped Latvia overcome the 2008 global financial crisis. The government has fulfilled all obligations towards international creditors. Between 2011 and 2013, the Latvian economy returned to normal. The national credit rating in 2014 reached level A with a stable forecast... In the same year, all banks in Latvia passed the stress test of the European Central Bank.
The four pillars of the Latvian economy - agriculture, chemical industry, logistics and woodworking... Other significant sectors include textile industry, food production, mechanical engineering and green technologies.
Life expectancy in Latvia, according to the World Health Organization, is 74.6 years (men - 69.5; women - 79.2). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 78 .
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- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.834 (very high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 82.5 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $28 413
- Population: 2 826 534 people
- Form of government: parliamentary republic
- Capital: Vilnius
Lithuania, along with Latvia, is included in the ranking of the poorest countries of the European Union, where the standard of living by EU standards does not reach the average European level. This is due to low wages, high unemployment and European prices. In 2015, the country switched to the euro. This did not translate into a sharp increase in prices, as many predicted. The average monthly salary in Lithuania is 895 euros.
Lithuania is considered a republic with industrial-agrarian economy... The dominant role in the economy is played by the development of industry, the profit from this sphere of activity is more than half of the country's total GDP. Agriculture accounts for about 25 percent. Also, a great contribution to the development of the state is made by the construction and transport sector, as well as the service sector and other activities. Industry in Lithuania has been developing throughout the history of the formation of the republic. Now the most productive industries are considered food and chemical industry, as well as mechanical engineering, woodworking, production of building materials and mixtures, metalworking. An increase is observed annually in the industrial sector.
From natural resources in Lithuania amber is mined on the sea coast, oil and natural gas in the western regions and on the Lithuanian shelf of the Baltic Sea, peat, building materials, granite, limestone, iron ore, clay, marble and rock salt.
Life expectancy in Lithuania, according to the World Health Organization, is 73.6 years (men - 68.1; women - 79.1). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 89 .
1
- In the world HDI ranking:
- HDI: 0.846 (very high)
- GDP (PPP):$ 35.2 billion
- GDP (PPP) per capita: $25 631
- Population: 1 315 635 people
- Form of government: parliamentary republic
- Capital: Tallinn
American experts named Estonia the most "western" of all states of the post-Soviet space... The three leaders also included Lithuania and Latvia. “These are the countries that have adopted the Western political model. They demonstrate an unconditional commitment to liberal democracy and are recognized by countries with stable democracies, ”the report says.
Over the past decade, Estonia has made great strides in improving the quality of life of its citizens. Before the financial crisis of 2008, the country broke all records of economic growth. Despite this, Estonia has performed well in some of the well-being indicators of the Better Life Index. Estonia performs above average in living conditions, education and skills, environmental quality, civic engagement, social connections, work and play balance. The average monthly salary in Estonia is 1,242 euros.
The advantages of Estonia are membership in the Eurozone and a simplified tax system. Also among the advantages of the Estonian economy is the system of electronic regulation of relations between business entities and the state, a simplified legal system in the field of small and medium-sized businesses, one of the most low rates of corruption in the world.
Life expectancy in Estonia, according to the World Health Organization, is 77.6 years (for men - 72.7; for women - 82). In the world ranking according to this criterion, the state occupies 39 .