-----Original Message----- From: "Devine, James" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> I am not an expert on Russia (not even close!), but it seems that in structural > terms, that country is economically dominated by the IMF and the US. -- How? US trade with Russia is almost zero. Russia's debt/GDP ratio is lower than Germany's. Indeed, Amb. Vershbow tried to threaten Russia economically over Iraq and quickly backed down when everybody laughed at them. I suppose it is possible that it the event of a crash in oil prices Russia would seek an IMF loan, although the government has said that it would take none. --- Rather, they come from the failure of the Soviet "model" (which was partly a response to earlier external domination). --- Yes. --- > > If Russia is able to use its temporary oil bonanza to develop its economy in a > balanced way, perhaps it can move away from dependency. Is it doing so? > This is one of the subtexts to the Khodorkovsky drama. The Kremlin wanted to hike taxes on oil and other natural resourse exports in order to put the proceeds into the rest of the economy. (Everybody in Russia knows how dependent the country is on world market prices for oil and other natural resources, and that that is not sustainable in the long run). Khodorkovsky was the main opponent of this plain. Now he is in jail. The tax hike was voted through the Duma the other day.
