Alexey Grazhdankin, Deputy Director of Levada Centre, shares what Russians think of the West (from a Vedomosti article, October 28, 2014) “The majority of people think that Russia already has a democracy, or at least that it needs its own path – not a Western or a Soviet one. If an iron curtain fell over Russia, that would be a shock to only 14% of respondents who see themselves as people of Western culture.”
Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Federation Council, comments on foreign ownership of mass media (from an interview with TASS, October 2014) “Let’s be frank: a country’s information security largely depends on the ownership of national TV and radio channels, leading newspapers and magazines. Key mass media must work for Russia, not against it. Yes [they should] criticize the authorities, yes [they should] express their opinions on controversial issues, but I repeat, they shouldn’t harm the fatherland, the people. If the owner is a foreigner, then the editorial policy could have foreign, not national interests in mind. This possibility can’t be excluded. I’ve already told you that Americans own a lot of mass media in Europe. Should we be surprised that [what these media publish] is grist for their mill?”
Alexey Kudrin, former Finance Minister, discusses the 2015 Russian budget (from a Fontanka.ru article, October 28, 2014) “The budget includes a mechanism that was designed [when I was Finance Minister]. This mechanism foresees budget implementation regardless of the oil price. That’s why we created the Stabilization Fund. That’s why it’s unlikely that the buget will be revised in a serious way. The budget will be implemented due to the reserves.”
Sergey Aleksashenko, former Deputy Chair, Central Bank, describes the economic situation (from an interview with Slon, October 27, 2014) “The economy of a country that has 145 million people cannot vanish. This didn’t happen even under War Communism. Yes, growth in some sectors may fall abruptly. Yes, unemployment may increase. Yes, the volume of bad credit (assets) on banks’ balance sheets may grow sharply. But this doesn’t mean the economy will cease to exist.”
Mikhail Krutikhin, an expert at Rusenergy, speaks about the prospects of Russian oil and gas (from an interview with RosBalt Business, October 17, 2014) “We see how fast other countries are developing their oil and gas production and exports. Countries that never dreamt of producing something, like Uruguay, actually have bright prospects. East Africa, West Africa, Morocco, Argentina. Even Israel may become an oil exporter. Today Qatar is the largest exporter of LNG. Last year it sold 84 million tons. But Australia is coming up – it will be producing 88 million tons in 2-3 years, and in perspective it will be producing 120-130 million tons. USA will begin exporting its LNG, and Canada too. At the same time, oil production and exports in Russia will decrease. LNG exports will decrease also due to Europe reducing its consumption of Russian gas. Asian consumers won’t replace Europe. For example, Power of Siberia‘s gas will only reach the Chinese border in 2020, and its volume will be less than 5 billion m³… Increasing exports to at least to 30 billion (not even to the planned 38 billion m³) will require 10 more years. Which means that until 2030 we will see Europe reduce the consumption of Russian gas while in Asia [consumption] will grow only slightly.”
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