{"id":12388,"date":"2020-05-12T14:15:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T14:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=12388"},"modified":"2021-05-07T02:40:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T02:40:50","slug":"how-is-russia-supporting-its-citizens-during-the-global-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/how-is-russia-supporting-its-citizens-during-the-global-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"How Is Russia Supporting Its Citizens During The Global Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coronavirus has severely damaged the economies of many countries, and Russia is not an exception. Almost all areas of life are being affected by COVID-19. What is the Russian government doing to minimize the economic losses (\u044d\u043a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0438\u0301\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u0442\u0435\u0301\u0440\u0438<\/strong>) of its citizens?<\/p>\n

\"face

Image by Jernej Furman Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation<\/a> (\u0426\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0301\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0431\u0430\u043d\u043a \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0301\u0439\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u0424\u0435\u0434\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0301\u0446\u0438\u0438<\/a>), and the report of the European Commission<\/a>, the budget deficit (\u0434\u0435\u0444\u0438\u0446\u0438\u0301\u0442 \u0431\u044e\u0434\u0436\u0435\u0301\u0442\u0430<\/strong>) of the Russian Federation is expected to be approximately 5 – 6% GDP (\u0412\u0412\u041f<\/a><\/strong>) in 2020.<\/p>\n

There is no secret that Russia is significantly oil-dependent and needs to get off its oil needle<\/a> (\u043d\u0435\u0444\u0442\u044f\u043d\u0430\u0301\u044f \u0438\u0433\u043b\u0430\u0301<\/strong>), as Russians call it. The fall in oil prices (\u0446\u0435\u0301\u043d\u044b \u043d\u0430 \u043d\u0435\u0301\u0444\u0442\u044c<\/strong>) has led to the collapse of the ruble (to about 73 rubles per dollar to date<\/a>). The anti-epidemic restrictions have led to a decrease in domestic demand (\u0441\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441) for goods and services. Thus, Russia has now received a double blow to its economy (\u044d\u043a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u0301\u043c\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Food and drug prices (\u0446\u0435\u0301\u043d\u044b \u043d\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0434\u0443\u0301<\/span><\/b>\u043a\u0442\u044b \u0438 \u043b\u0435\u043a\u0430\u0301\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430<\/strong>) have risen sharply; the pace of construction (\u0442\u0435\u0301\u043c\u043f \u0441\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0438\u0301\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430<\/strong>) has significantly slowed down; many small companies have gone bankrupt (\u043e\u0431\u0430\u043d\u043a\u0440\u043e\u0301\u0442\u0438\u043b\u0438\u0441\u044c<\/strong>) due to lack of demand; banks could not complete some international transactions; many families have lost their income (\u0434\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0301\u0434<\/strong>) and unable to pay their mortgages (\u0438\u043f\u043e\u0442\u0435\u0301\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043a\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0438\u0301\u0442\u044b<\/strong>). How is the Russian government preventing its people from losing hope?<\/p>\n

\"grocery

Image by Paul Arps Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Last week, Russian President Putin held a meeting on implementing the adopted measures on supporting the economy and social sphere<\/a> via a teleconference, where he listened to the reports from the Labour and Social Protection Minister, Minister of Health, Minister of Economic Development, Minister of \u00a0Finance, the Central Bank Governor, and others.<\/p>\n

To date, the following economic measures have been taken to support Russian citizens:<\/h2>\n