Flash

Russian Economy: Positive Future

Russia's Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin says Russia's GDP may grow again in 2010 by 2-3%. The drastic fall of oil prices in 2008 means that the Russian government will run a budget based on a 8% deficit for 2009, but the Finance Minister says the shortfall would be gradually decreased to 5% in 2010 and to 3% in 2011. At the present, the Russian government is preparing a new budget for 2009 based on the price of oil at $41 per barrel, down from the original $95 per barrel predicted in 2008.

Plans to Create a New Russian Airline Suspended

The Russian government has postponed the creation of a new state-owned airline called Rossavia for at least a year. However, Airline experts say that some of the regional carriers, planned to merge to make the new airline, will not survive that long. Rossavia was to start flying from the summer of 2009 and was to combine the bankrupt Air Union alliance and the Moscow city carrier Atlant-Soyuz. Government officials say that the airlines are not technically prepared to form a new carrier, but experts believe that the government does not want to take a risk of launching a new airline in the present economic situation.

Budget for Sochi-2014 Olympic Games is 70% Down

The Russian Government has announced that the budget for Olympstroy, the state company overseeing the construction work of the Sochi-2014 Winter Olympic Games, will be cut by two thirds in 2009. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Kozak, says the money will be diverted the main sectors of the economy. Luckily Olympstroy still has funds left-over from the previous years, which should be sufficient to complete the projects for 2009.