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The Russia Economy

The Russia Economy

Because of its great size, its natural resources, and its political domination, the Russian Federation played a leading role in the economy of the Soviet Union. In the years preceding the dissolution of the union in 1991, the Russia economy and the union as a whole was in decline. In 1992, immediately after the dissolution, the Russian government implemented a series of radical reforms. Price controls were abolished as the beginning of a transition from a centrally controlled economy to a market economy. An immediate series of sharp price increases caused extreme hardships for the Russian people. Today the economy can't be called stable, but compared to recent years, there has been growth and improvement in the Russia economy bringing hope for all Russians.

 

Fuel and Power in the Russia Economy

Russia has by far the largest coal reserves among the former Soviet republics. It is also one of the world's leading producers of petroleum and natural gas. Extensive pipeline systems link producing districts to all parts of Russia and across the border to many European countries. Much of the country's fuel is converted to electricity, but about a third of the electricity is produced by hydroelectric plants. The largest of these are on the Volga, Kama, Ob ', Yenisey, and Angara rivers. High-voltage transmission lines move large amounts of electricity from Siberia to the European part of the country.

 

Industry in the Russia Economy

The country's machine-building industry satisfies most of Russia 's requirements for electric generators, steam boilers and turbines, grain combines, electric locomotives, and automobiles. It also fills much of its demand for machine tools, instruments, and automation components. Major automobile factories are in Moscow, Nizhni Novgorod, Yaroslavl ', Ul'yanovsk, Izhevsk, and Togliatti. There is a heavy truck factory at Naberezhnye Chelny.

Chemical industries originally developed in areas that use mineral salts, coke oven and smelter gases, timber, and food products. Rubber factories were built in areas of large-scale potato crops (north and south of Moscow ); sulfuric acid plants where there was nonferrous metallurgy (east of the Urals); and fertilizer plants near deposits of potassium salts and phosphorites (the Urals and near the Belarus border). After the 1950s and the massive increase in the production of petroleum and natural gas provided new raw materials for the chemical industries. New plants were built both in the petroleum- and gas-producing areas in the Volga-Ural zone and the North Caucasus and in areas served by pipelines. Cellulose is produced in Siberia, where both timber and electricity are plentiful.

The textile industry is concentrated in the central part of the European sector of the country. Cotton textiles dominate, with raw cotton coming from the Central Asian areas. Between the Volga and Oka rivers there are some 30 cotton-textile producing centers. Such durable consumer goods as home appliances and electronic equipment are manufactured mainly in areas with a tradition of skilled workers, notably in and around Moscow and St. Petersburg.

 

Agriculture in the Russia Economy

Because of the harshness of the Russian environment, less than one sixth of the land is dedicated to agriculture. About three fifths of the farmland is used for growing crops, with the remainder devoted to pasture.

The grasslands have been converted to large collective and state farms, which produce mainly grains winter and spring wheat, barley, rye, oats, and buckwheat. Sweet corn (maize), rice, and grapes are grown in the North Caucasus. Elsewhere corn is raised strictly as livestock silage and fodder. Millet and melons are grown along the lower Volga River. Sunflowers are widespread. Beef cattle and pigs are raised in the grasslands as well. Sheep, horses, and goats are raised east of Moscow and in the North Caucasus. Dairying is combined with the growing of rye and oats in the mixed forest zones, western Siberia, and on the outskirts of cities, where vegetables are also cultivated. Potatoes and flax are grown northwest of Moscow. Apples, pears, and hemp are grown mainly south of the capital. Crops are irrigated along the lower Volga and in the North Caucasus.

 

Forestry in the Russia Economy

Russia has the world's largest forest reserves, which supply lumber, pulp and paper, and raw material for woodworking industries. Needle-leaf trees predominate, with the country producing more than a fifth of the world's softwood. Since World War II lumbering activities have spread increasingly to the east of the Urals.

 

Fishing in the Russia Economy

With access to three of the world's oceans the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific Russian fishing fleets are a major contributor to the economy. The chief fishing ports are Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea (which connects with the Atlantic ), Murmansk and Archangel on the Barents Sea ( Arctic ), and Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan (Pacific). The inland Azov, Black, and Caspian seas have smaller-scale fishing, but reduced river flows and pollution are serious problems. Nevertheless, the Caspian is the source of what is considered the finest caviar in the world. There are also fisheries on inland lakes and rivers, including considerable fish farming.

Transportation in the Russia Economy

Russia 's great expanse and the resulting long distances between points especially between sources of raw materials and foodstuffs and the consuming areas for which they are intended require a major system of transportation. The railroad continues to dominate, hauling about half of the freight and one third of all the passengers. The rail system is densest in the central part of the European area and sparsest in Siberia and the Far East. East of the Urals it consists of only a few major trunk routes Trans-Siberian Railroad and Baikal-Amur Mainline with feeder branches to areas of economic significance.

Other than highways that link major cities in the European section, the road system is underdeveloped. It carries less than 2 percent of the total freight, most of this for short distances to the nearest rail terminal. Inland waterways carry a much greater volume, most notably the Volga and its tributaries. The huge areas north of the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur rail lines in Siberia depend on river transport.

Ports on the Arctic seaboard are linked by maritime transport, though only part of the year. With the aid of icebreakers, Murmansk remains open throughout the year, but Archangel is open for only 175 days and Nizhniye Kresty, at the mouth of the Kolyma River, for only 110. From Murmansk on the Barents Sea to Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan is a voyage of some 6,500 miles (10,460 kilometers).

Airlines carry nearly 20 percent of all passengers, with Aeroflot, the world's largest airline, carrying more than 80 million passengers a year. Only a tiny percentage of Russia 's freight is hauled by air. Air freight is confined chiefly to high-value items and haulage to and from remote parts of Siberia, where aircraft are sometimes the only means of transport.