<DIV>The long and short answer is: the Kemlin is not doing much about reducing dependence on oil. This why is a stabilization fund has been established. By year end $80 billion will bein the fund ($80 billion is a lot of money - the average monthy wage is $300). uvj@vsnl.com wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Peter Lavelle wrote: > I basically agree with Chris. However, Gazprom's purchase of Sibneft remains >opaque. My sense is that after Abramovich paid himself a dividend of $2.3 billion >he transferred ownership of Sibneft (how much? I don't know) to Putin's inner >circle. Thus, the $13 billion paid for Sibneft came from a state-owned company to >Kremlin insiders (basically, the state paid itself with huge western loans).>> What's the Russian government doing to reduce Russia's dependence on oil revenues? When Putin succeeded Yeltsin, he had said that Russia would have to use the technological strength of its military-industrial complex. Is there any progress in that direction? Ulhas ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <hr size=1>Yahoo! for Good <a href="http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/">Click here to donate</a> to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.