(AP photo)
When the going gets tough, the tough get going - that's the current attitude of the Russian economic planners charged with steering their country though hard times.
First Vice Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov outlined his country's economic trajectory for 2015 at the Davos Economic Forum. He concluded that while Russia's economic situation today is more complicated than it was during the 2008 global economic crisis, many Russians have not been affected at the same level.
"We need to prepare for lots of unemployed people in the current job market, and they will need help adapting to new conditions," Shuvalov said. "The government should prepare to cope with these shocks, although not everyone will suffer the same way ... Every household, down to every homemaker, must learn to live under new conditions. We have an entire year for that."
Shuvalov noted that his government has engineered an anti-crisis program meant to guide the country through new challenges - a program outlined this week by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The program emphasizes the importance of creating a safety net for the most vulnerable parts of the Russian population - the young, the sick, and the elderly. The initiative seeks to protects pension payments, freeze prices for certain medications, and build low-cost housing. Medvedev also earmarked official funds to address a potential spike in unemployment benefits, and more assistance will be directed to Russian companies working in foreign markets. Additionally, Medvedev made clear that starting this February, each Russian federal region must adopt its own economic anti-crisis programs.
At Davos, Shuvalov stated that such reforms must be undertaken quickly "in order to show investors that Russia can work even with a weak ruble ... I think that sooner or later, investors will start seeing real benefits and return-on-investment in Russia."
He remained defiant on the sanctions against Russia, insisting that they will not impede economic activity and development: "We already have the experience of South Africa (which faced global sanctions against apartheid in the 1980s). Likewise, Chile had to develop during a difficult political and economic climate (during the reign of Augusto Pinochet). Can a modern economic system develop in difficult political conditions? The answer is yes."
President Vladimir Putin referred to Russian resilience:
"This is not the first situation of this kind, we went though something similar back in 2008-2009. And then, too, the crisis was initiated outside of Russia. It began with the collapse of the mortgage system in the United States, and then the crisis reached other countries before getting to us. Presently, like before, one of the main reasons for the current economic situation is the situation in external markets, such as raw materials, which also reflects on Russia. If we talk about the so-called 'sanctions effect,' then let me remind you that during the 2008 crisis, there weren't too many candidates wishing to provide loans to Russian financial institutions. We solved these problems solely on our own, based on our development institutions and existing reserves. In this sense, little has changed since that time."
Russia endured that global crisis thanks to a variety of factors, not the least of which was the country's isolation from the global economy, relative to its counterparts in Asia and the West.
Moscow is taking other, small measures to address potential dissatisfaction among its citizens. One such measure is allowing people to propose legislation via the Internet. Starting in mid-February, anyone can log onto peticii.parlament.gov.ru and submit proposals for new laws. Once a petition gathers a critical number of electronic signatures - anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 - the proposal will be sent to the Duma's lower chamber for review. It may not be much - surely a long cry from Estonia's e-government - but at the very least it may help give Russians the feeling that they have a small stake in the way their country is governed.
