Today’s Russia not communist like its predecessor, the Soviet Union, nor does it want to be. Although it drinks from its iconography in certain elements, it is more like a fossil, something that has ceased to exist. Because in the most central streets of the main Russian cities, it is common to see high end cars that roar when the driver wants to show off his status in front of his compatriots. Something totally different from what can be seen in smaller cities without opportunities, where many soviet era carsbetter or worse care, continue to roll on the roads.
Russian news agencies such as Tass recently echoed the increase in the fortunes of the richest businessmen in Russia, which is estimated to have increased since the beginning of this year by about 13.17 billion dollars, while forecasts predict that the The average Russian will see how its purchasing power will decrease in the near future, to be placed at levels below the of 2012. In the list referred to by the Russian agency, Vagit Alekperovthe founder of the oil company Lukoilwho increased his fortune by 3,170 million dollars – it is estimated that his assets are 18,500 million – or Leonid Mijelsonof the gas novatekwhich won 1,650 million, to reach 26,300.
In Russia, there is a huge gap between the richest and the poorest, as only 135 people – those commonly known as “oligarchs& rdquor; – hold close to 35% of the national GDPwhile there is a 13% of Russians who live in poverty. It is common to see elderly people selling their personal items from the Soviet Union, flowers or fruits, despite the fact that, as a legacy of the USSR times, many of them own a flat or a room in a komunalka – a flat shared by different families-, for which they do not pay rent. This practice of continuing to work is due to the fact that pensions are very low for many of them, the average is 180 euros per month, and on many occasions they depend on their children to survive.
To give an example of how the wealthiest Russian jet set works, it is estimated that 370 of the yachts over 30 meters -8.8%- belong to Russian billionaires. Its average price, according to specialists, oscillates around three million euros. while, the Russian minimum wage is 200 euros, and the average 700 euros in all the country. However, in many regions this last variable is considerably lower, far from what is expected for a Muscovite, as is the case of the southern Russian republics such as Chechnya, Ingushetia or Dagestan, with records of close to 300 euros per month average.
Inequality between regions
While Moscow and some regions The oil producing areas of the Arctic are the richest areas of Russia, the Caucasus and Siberia are the poorest and the places where the difficulties of everyday life are most noticeable. There are even parts of rural Russia where there is no running water, in some regions this is due to the impossibility of having plumbing functional in winterwith temperatures of -40 degrees, although there are usually alternatives for the water supply.
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While the big cities, especially Moscow and St. Petersburg, have excellent connections with public transport, there are smaller cities – which can be around 100,000 inhabitants – without any public transport infrastructure, not even the famous marshrutkas (minibuses) -, existing the taxi or the personal vehicle as only alternatives. This system covers what buses cannot do in many locations, even in the capital itself, even outside of large cities. is usually infrequent and sometimes poor reliability in regards to punctuality, in addition to being old vehicles, some of them from the Soviet era.
Even at times like the present, this is palpable in the concerns of people from different regions. While a Muscovite, Masha -fictitious name to preserve her identity-, points out that she worries him “not being able to travel to Europe although the best option is to travel to Turkey”, in other parts of Russia, the source of sleeplessness is rather that now “only can you pay for food and basic expenses”, according to Ruslana, whose name is not real. In the case of men, the differences lie in the possibility of being recruited. Siberia and the Caucasus have sent proportionally more soldiers to Ukraine than Moscow and Saint Petersburg , despite the fact that both cities have a total of 20 million inhabitantsaround the fifteen% of the total population of Russia.