Not Thanks to But Despite

Abstract

Although the Russian economy declined in 2015, the decline was not as serious as expected by Russian leaders. None of the disasters anticipated at the end of 2014 happened. The decline was moderated by continued demand from the main consumers of Russian raw materials, continued government financial support for the defense industry, and balancing changes in internal prices. The ruble has remained stable because it is largely dependent on the price of oil on world markets. The impact of Western sanctions on the Russian economy steadily declined throughout 2015. Although Russia avoided economic collapse, the prospect for the near future is continued stagnation, rather than renewed growth.

Notes

English translation © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, from the Russian text “Ne blagodaria, a vopreki: pochemu rossiiskoi ekonomike eshche nedostatochno plokho.” Published with the author's permission. Sergei Aleksashenko is a senior research associate at the Brookings Institution. Translated by Stephen Shenfield. Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/mrup.