Well, I'd take anything Troika dialogue says with a grain of salt (Anderson Russia ditched its parent company recently, by the way). This is only by impressioon, but Putin certainly seems trying to diversify the economy. Whether he can succeed is a different ctory.
BTW, in his state of the nation address, Putin berated his economics ministers for not giving him higher projected growth rates. "Come on, guys' we've got to have higher growth!" They refused to revise their estimates upward more than superficially. Stalin had people shot for doing things like this. I think this is a first in Russian history.
Chris Doss The Russia Journal ----------------------------
In what countries has rising oil markets made for better government policies? What do you think about the article you posted, Chris? - -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu