Russia can't simply invest all that money, inflation would instantly rise, simple economics. Inflation and the capability to survive lower oil prices are the reason they are saving money. Primakov and Kasyanov had no authority, it was putin who enforced the reforms. The national projects seem to be quite effective if you look how construction is booming, infant mortality goes down, birth rates up. The Reform of the military industrial complex, the aircraft industry, the shipbuilding industry are all putin's childs. Oligarchs now invest in the country, well they are now forced to do something for their country. What does Putin cost russia ? For the first time people are optimistic, I've spoken with many russians, and most say while some of them criticize him for one or antoher matter, that he was the right man at the right time. The liberals allready where in power, and they nearly destroyed russia.
The western press isn't any better, just look how they surpressed war critics at the beginning of the iraq war, and who is in control of our media - there are only a couple of moguls like murdoch who control the whole press. Nobody double checks any information anymore, everybody just copy and pastes articles from reuters or other news agencies. The western media is biased and hysteric on russia, there is an anti-russian campaign never seen before, well the nazis did it in the second world war. You can read critical articles on putin even on state owned rian, it is possible to criticize putin and his government in russian media in a constructive way, and having media that isn't so sensational is something i would like to see in my country too. Governors are in many countries appointed by the president, india for example, and no one would call this undemocratic. The law on NGO's is not stricter than similar laws in france for example, but everybody is screaming because it's russia. That's double standards. Don't believe everything you hear in western media about russia - it's biased.
The reasons why putin is so popular at home are simple: When he took office russia was bankrupt, people had lost all their savings, wages and rents were not paid. Since then wages have quadrupled, russia is not just defacto debt free(~debt is at 8 % of gdp), but has currency reserves of over 400 billion dollars plus a stabilization fund of 117 billion dollars. Capital influx reached allready 40 billion dollars jan-may.The economy grew by 7.9 % in the frist quarter. And this growth is now driven by demand, and not longer by the gas and oil sector. Oil and gas revenues now stay in the country, without putin russia would not profit from the high oil prices, all money would end up in western bank accounts like under jelzin. Even birth rates are rising. The so called "opposition" figures like berezovsky and kasparov have no backing in the russian population, they are seen as thieves and hated. Putin brought stability, and the state has regained control over the country, which was lost in 1999. If the politics of the nineties were continued, russia could not exist anymore. In fact, putin saved russia. The west allready believed it was dead, and expanded nato to it's borders and ignored russia's concerns. This time is now over, and the west should accept russia as an equal partner, because without russia most problems we face today can't be solved, and the russian economy is a huge market for western goods. Russia can help us in many spheres, but has also the capability to create giant troubles for the west. As an european i don't want to see a europe full of weapons. I don't believe we have the right to interfere with russia's internal affairs - everytime the west tries to enforce so called "democracy" another desaster happens, just look at afghanistan, iraq and the political crises in the ukraine.
Putin is no angel, and he makes difficult decisions which might look bad to the west, but are right from a russian perspective. Russia suffered more than most countries(for example it lost more people than any other country in WWII), and it's no germany, it's much bigger, it has over 100 nationalities, and has/had problems you can not solve with a western style government, just look how difficult it is for an european government to make just the simplest reforms. It's time for the west to make concessions, to get russia back in our boat, we need it to fight terrorism, as a market, for resources, and to solve all other outstanding issues. Russia is pragmatic, you can have everything from them if you respect them, and in contrast to the us which wants to control the whole world, russia only wants a backyard without foreign troops to feel save. Russia is back.
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Russia can't simply invest all that money, inflation would instantly rise, simple economics. Inflation and the capability to survive lower oil prices are the reason they are saving money. Primakov and Kasyanov had no authority, it was putin who enforced the reforms. The national projects seem to be quite effective if you look how construction is booming, infant mortality goes down, birth rates up. The Reform of the military industrial complex, the aircraft industry, the shipbuilding industry are all putin's childs. Oligarchs now invest in the country, well they are now forced to do something for their country. What does Putin cost russia ? For the first time people are optimistic, I've spoken with many russians, and most say while some of them criticize him for one or antoher matter, that he was the right man at the right time. The liberals allready where in power, and they nearly destroyed russia. The western press isn't any better, just look how they surpressed war critics at the beginning of the iraq war, and who is in control of our media - there are only a couple of moguls like murdoch who control the whole press. Nobody double checks any information anymore, everybody just copy and pastes articles from reuters or other news agencies. The western media is biased and hysteric on russia, there is an anti-russian campaign never seen before, well the nazis did it in the second world war. You can read critical articles on putin even on state owned rian, it is possible to criticize putin and his government in russian media in a constructive way, and having media that isn't so sensational is something i would like to see in my country too. Governors are in many countries appointed by the president, india for example, and no one would call this undemocratic. The law on NGO's is not stricter than similar laws in france for example, but everybody is screaming because it's russia. That's double standards. Don't believe everything you hear in western media about russia - it's biased.
The reasons why putin is so popular at home are simple: When he took office russia was bankrupt, people had lost all their savings, wages and rents were not paid. Since then wages have quadrupled, russia is not just defacto debt free(~debt is at 8 % of gdp), but has currency reserves of over 400 billion dollars plus a stabilization fund of 117 billion dollars. Capital influx reached allready 40 billion dollars jan-may.The economy grew by 7.9 % in the frist quarter. And this growth is now driven by demand, and not longer by the gas and oil sector. Oil and gas revenues now stay in the country, without putin russia would not profit from the high oil prices, all money would end up in western bank accounts like under jelzin. Even birth rates are rising. The so called "opposition" figures like berezovsky and kasparov have no backing in the russian population, they are seen as thieves and hated. Putin brought stability, and the state has regained control over the country, which was lost in 1999. If the politics of the nineties were continued, russia could not exist anymore. In fact, putin saved russia. The west allready believed it was dead, and expanded nato to it's borders and ignored russia's concerns. This time is now over, and the west should accept russia as an equal partner, because without russia most problems we face today can't be solved, and the russian economy is a huge market for western goods. Russia can help us in many spheres, but has also the capability to create giant troubles for the west. As an european i don't want to see a europe full of weapons. I don't believe we have the right to interfere with russia's internal affairs - everytime the west tries to enforce so called "democracy" another desaster happens, just look at afghanistan, iraq and the political crises in the ukraine. Putin is no angel, and he makes difficult decisions which might look bad to the west, but are right from a russian perspective. Russia suffered more than most countries(for example it lost more people than any other country in WWII), and it's no germany, it's much bigger, it has over 100 nationalities, and has/had problems you can not solve with a western style government, just look how difficult it is for an european government to make just the simplest reforms. It's time for the west to make concessions, to get russia back in our boat, we need it to fight terrorism, as a market, for resources, and to solve all other outstanding issues. Russia is pragmatic, you can have everything from them if you respect them, and in contrast to the us which wants to control the whole world, russia only wants a backyard without foreign troops to feel save. Russia is back.