Low oil and commodity prices have crippled the Russian economy, caused a massive devaluation of the ruble and a contraction of government budget expenditures. At a conference of the All-Russian Peoples Front (VNF—Vserossiysky Narodni Front—a pro-Kremlin populist organization) in Stavropol in the North Caucasus this week a woman from North Ossetia asked President Vladimir Putin: “Will incomes be inflation-adjusted? It is very difficult to live and feed a family in our republic with a fixed income of 12,000 rubles a month ($158).” A visibly irritated Putin replied that things are not that bad and Russia’s future can be seen “with …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation