Chris Doss The Russia Journal ------------------
This article was published in The Russia Journal ISSUE No.13 (156), DATE: 2002-04-12
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- RJ STREET POLL: Has Russia’s current economic growth affected you personally?
By DMITRY BULGAKOV in Moscow / The Russia Journal
YULIA KOVALSKAYA, ENGLISH TEACHER
Before the crisis, I lived better than now. What happened as a result of the crisis was horrible. I didn’t expect anything like that. My family has a tradition of going to visit our relatives in Abkhazia. The summer of 1999, the year following the crisis, we couldn’t make the trip simply because it was too expensive for us. In 2000 and 2001, we somehow managed to visit Abkhazia again. I guess that means that after an extremely steep plummet, now we are recovering. There have been some improvements in the last two years, but again I want to emphasize that before the crisis we lived better.
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PAVEL FROLOV, PROGRAMMER
It’s noticeable that the economy is getting better and that the main economic indicators are improving, but much remains to be done for small- and medium-sized enterprises, especially when it comes to realizing all the recent initiatives. But, still, I guess my well-being hasn’t improved dramatically. If I compare the post-crisis situation to the current situation in my family, I certainly feel much better and much more confident. Average salaries have increased. Though our concern is high inflation because it eats up wage increases.
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TATYANA ROMANOVA, PROGRAMMER
I think some improvements have occurred during the last two to three years. If you compare the current situation with what we had after the 1998 crisis, life seems better. At least now we are confident that next year will be better than the last. Here in Moscow, changes are more vivid and tangible. I guess in the regions the situation has not improved all that much. Also, in the regions the salaries are generally lower than in Moscow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- TIGRAN BAKAYAN, TECHNICIAN
I wouldn’t say that the current economic growth has had any positive effect on me, my relatives or my friends. On the contrary, I would say the situation in my family has deteriorated. It was better for me while Yeltsin was president. The economic growth, in my opinion, means that those who were wealthy and lived well have become even wealthier, while those who could barely make ends meet have now become even poorer.
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DENIS OVSYANNIKOV, MECHANIC
The first one or two years after the crisis were tough. Now the situation is gradually improving. I work in the aviation industry, at an airplane construction plant. I don’t feel that I have become any wealthier. Yes, wages have increased, but after getting a higher salary you suddenly realize that you have to spend more on groceries and other necessities because prices are increasing at a faster pace.
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YEKATERINA PAPANOVA, HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENT
My parents and my relatives don’t get much more than before. The only real achievement of the past three years is stability. There is a certain degree of stability, which didn’t exist before. Plus, there is some trust in our leaders. I believe that our leadership is generally making some effort to improve the current situation. They are pushing new bills through the State Duma and they are trying to figure out how to make Russian debt more controllable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- RJ STREET POLL: Has the recent economic downturn in the U.S. affected you personally?
By DANIEL LEVIN in Washington, D.C. / The Russia Journal
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ZACHARY COFFIN, CONSULTANT
No, not really. But I know some people who got laid off. But this, I guess, is more geographic. The people I know who got laid off are from the New York area. But the area I’m in is rather peculiar, it gets better when the times get harder. I’m not in the bankruptcy business; if I were in a bankruptcy business this would be a good time, I suppose.
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SEAN WRIGHT, FREELANCE TV PRODUCER
Yeah, sure, I lost money! Well, the whole thing did not affect me drastically, but it sure did have an impact. I mean, I do freelance work for television, so definitely, especially in this town it affected the industry. There are fewer commercials, and nobody wants to spend any money. Maybe in this town it affected me more than others.
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LAURA CROFT, EMPLOYEE OF A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
No, it did not affect me. Probably because I am not in an industry that was affected. I work for a non-profit organization. Although non-profit funding has gone down somewhat recently, the downturn did not affect us drastically. So I don’t feel personally affected.
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MICHAEL KEATING, PHOTOGRAPHER
It just didn’t affect me. I’ve got the same job, and it did not affect me a bit. Nothing has changed. I work as an editor and a photographer in a newspaper, and from what I see I can tell that not much has changed. I mean, the number of our subscribers hasn’t gone down, so we are still going strong. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
TIM GREENLEAF, WEBMASTER
Yeah, it affected me. I was working for an eco-travel company here in this area and they laid off a large number of their employees after Sept. 11. I was one of those people, and it took me four months to find a new job. So it doesn’t get any more direct than that.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ANGELA LYONS, GOVERNMENT WORKER
Yes, it did affect my family and me. My husband does exhibits for a lot of conventions and trade shows – he is a freelancer – and obviously after Sept. 11 there has been less activity going on and, consequently, there is less work for him to do. So yes, it did affect us.