Finance

Russia’s monetary unit is the ruble, which is now freely convertible, a radical departure from the practice of artificial exchange rates and rigid restrictions that existed during the Soviet era. The Russian Central Bank (RCB), which took over the functions of the Soviet-era Gosbank, is exclusively responsible for regulating the country’s monetary system. The bank’s primary function is to protect and stabilize the ruble, which it attempts to do through its control of foreign exchange. Under the constitution adopted in 1993, the RCB was given greater autonomy from the central government than the Gosbank had enjoyed, but its head is appointed by the president and subject to approval by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature. In 1995 the RCB was granted the authority to oversee all banking transactions, set exchange-rate policies, license banks, and service the country’s debt. To maintain its hard currency reserves, the RCB relies on the obligation of all exporters to convert half their hard-currency earnings into rubles. In the mid-1990s the RCB established a system of supervision and inspection of the country’s commercial banks.

During much of the 1990s Russia’s financial system was in a state of chaos, largely because many of the thousands of banks that formed after the fall of communism became insolvent, particularly during the economic crisis of the late 1990s. Even with consolidation of the banking industry, at the beginning of the early 21st century there were more than 1,000 Russian commercial banks, many of which were state-owned or were institutions that offered few financing opportunities for small- and medium-size businesses. Dozens of foreign banks also operate in the country.

The state-owned Russian commercial banks, such as Vneshtorgbank and Sberbank, shadow the RCB both in the pursuit of stability and in operations philosophy. The banking sector is frequently accused of cronyism, benefiting only a select few, particularly former communist apparatchiks. Before the banking crisis in the late 1990s, private commercial banks mushroomed, but most of them acted as outsourcing financial agents for enterprises inherited from the Soviet era. By the beginning of the 21st century, two major clusters of banks had survived. One cluster, which included the National Reserve Bank, Gazprombank, Promstroybank, and International Moscow Bank, served the oil and gas industry. The second cluster, consisting of banks servicing the government of Moscow, included the Bank of Moscow, Mosbusinessbank, Guta Bank, Most Bank, Unikombank, International Financial Corporation, Sobinbank, MDM Bank, Toribank, Promradtekhbank, and dozens of smaller banks.

Trade

During the communist period the Russian republic traded extensively with the other Soviet republics, from which it “imported” a variety of commodities that it was unable to produce in sufficient quantities itself. These included cotton (from Central Asia) and other high-value agricultural products, grain (mainly from Kazakhstan), and various minerals. In return, Russia “exported” oil and gas to republics with a weak energy base, such as Belorussia (now Belarus) and the Baltic states, and sent its skilled-engineering products and consumer goods to most of its partners.

By the late 1990s trade between the former union republics no longer continued in any systematic manner, particularly because agreement could not be reached on the prices to be charged for goods previously exchanged at artificially low rates during the Soviet period. Still, Russia generally has a positive trade balance with the former republics of the Soviet Union.

International trade during the Soviet era was rather limited until the 1960s, and most of it was governed by bilateral and multilateral arrangements with the other members of Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance), the Soviet-led trade organization of communist eastern European countries. As Soviet economic expansion slowed during the 1970s and ’80s, it became apparent that further growth required large quantities of high-tech equipment from the West. To finance these imports, increasing amounts of hard currency were needed, and this could be obtained only by increasing exports to the West. As a result, Russia came to rely heavily on oil and gas exports as a source for its hard currency needs. With Comecon’s collapse and the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself, individual republics began to develop their own trading relations with the outside world. Russia, with its large resources of oil, gas, and minerals, seemed well placed to continue the type of trading relations with the West already developed by the former Soviet Union.

In 1994 Russia signed an agreement that strengthened economic ties with the European Union, and Russia soon joined economic discussions with the Group of Seven (G-7), which represented the most advanced economies of the world; in 1997 it was admitted as member of the Group of Eight (G-8). However, that membership was suspended indefinitely after Russia annexed the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea in 2014. Russia’s long-delayed application to join the World Trade Organization was finally granted in 2012. In January 2015 Russia became a founding member of the Eurasian Economic Union. The trade bloc, which included Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, was intended as a counterweight to expanding EU political and economic influence in the former Soviet sphere.

Foreign trade is tremendously important to the Russian economy. The country has generally enjoyed a healthy trade surplus since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Primary exports include oil, metals, machinery, chemicals, and forestry products. Principal imports include machinery and foods. Among Russia’s leading trade partners are Germany, the United States, Belarus, Ukraine, and China.

Services

During the Soviet era the service sector suffered from drastic inadequacies. The state-owned services, which made no effort to respond to consumer demand, were hampered by inefficient bureaucratization. In the post-Soviet era private-sector services grew dramatically, and many of the shortages that characterized the previous era were eliminated. By the beginning of the 21st century, services accounted for more than half of GDP. Still, complaints remained regarding the provision of services by the public sector, particularly the police, schools, and hospitals. Owing to budget shortfalls, many of the public-sector services are poorly financed and have been unable to retain skilled employees.

Travel and tourism account for several million jobs in Russia. Some 20 million foreign visitors travel to Russia each year, though many of these visitors are seasonal workers from former Soviet republics. Free from the restrictions of Soviet times, Russians have increasingly traveled abroad.

Labour and taxation

Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, an overarching All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions nominally represented the interests of workers, though it was controlled by the governing Communist Party. In the mid-1980s there was increasing labour unrest, particularly from miners, and greater rights were granted to workers. Since the collapse of communism, labour relations have been in constant flux, and several labour codes have been adopted. Trade union reform in 2001 effectively provided the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of the Russian Federation, which represents some 50 million workers organized into various branches, a monopoly on most union activity. Alternative trade unions were unable to operate unless they represented at least half of the employees at a company.

The primary sector continues to provide employment for a large proportion of the workforce, with one-eighth of workers employed in agriculture and one-fifth in mining and manufacturing. Still, the service sector (including banking, insurance, and other financial services) has grown appreciably and now employs about three-fifths of all Russian workers.

Tax laws have undergone dramatic reform since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. As a result of high tax rates, the large number of unreported incomes (particularly related to organized-crime syndicates), and general fraud, the government failed to collect a significant proportion of the revenue to which it was legally entitled. In the early 21st century, to combat fraud and encourage investment, the government simplified the tax system and reduced the overall tax burden, particularly on businesses. For example, corporate taxes were reduced by about one-third, a flat tax was imposed on incomes, and the value-added tax on the sale of goods was reduced. A single natural resource extraction tax also replaced three existing resource taxes. The value-added tax is a large source of government revenue.

Transportation and telecommunications

Russia’s vast size and the great distances that often separate sources of raw materials and foodstuffs from consumers place a heavy burden on the transport system. One result has been the continuing dominance of the railways, which account for about nine-tenths of the country’s freight turnover (three-fifths if pipelines are included) and half of all passenger movement. Nevertheless, the rail network is a very open one, and its density varies regionally: it is highest in the Northwest, Central, and Central Black Earth regions and lowest in East and West Siberia and the Far East. Some two-thirds of the railway network lies along the main belt of settlements. The railway network of European Russia is nearly seven times as dense as that found in the Asian portion of the country. Indeed, east of the Urals the term network is a misnomer, since the system consists of only a few major trunk routes (e.g., the Trans-Siberian Railroad and Baikal-Amur Mainline) with feeder branches to sites of economic importance. Russian railways are among the world’s leading freight carriers, the line from the Kuznetsk Basin to the Urals being especially prominent. The railways are owned and run by a joint-stock company controlled by the state. Much of the country’s rolling stock is obsolete.

Apart from highways linking the major cities of European Russia, the road system is underdeveloped and carries only a tiny fraction of all freight. The private automobile became a symbol of middle-class status in the post-Soviet years, but the percentage of people owning vehicles is still quite small. Inland waterways carry a much larger volume. Although the greatest volume is carried on the Volga system, river transport is most vital in areas devoid of railways. In addition to its vital role in foreign trade, maritime transport also has some importance in linking the various regions of Russia, particularly those that face the Arctic seaboard. Traffic on the Arctic Ocean route is seasonal.

Air transport plays an increasingly important role. Russian airlines carry only a minute fraction of all freight, chiefly high-value items to and from the remote parts of Siberia, where aircraft are sometimes the only means of transport. Airlines are responsible for nearly one-fifth of all passenger movement. Aeroflot (renamed Aeroflot-Russian Airlines in June 2000), formerly the state airline of the Soviet Union, is the country’s largest air carrier; the Russian government maintains majority ownership of Aeroflot. Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo in Moscow and Pulkovo in St. Petersburg are the country’s major airports, with the older Sheremetyevo airport losing tenants to the more modern Domodedovo. Most major cities have service to international or domestic locations.

The Russian telecommunications sector is inferior to those of other industrialized countries. For example, in the early 1990s only about one-third of the country’s households had a telephone. Largely through foreign investment, however, the country’s telecommunications infrastructure has been greatly improved. In 1997 the State Committee on Communications and Informatics was formed from the Ministry of Communications and the State Committee on Information Technology to regulate telecommunications policies, oversee the liberalization of the sector, and encourage competition; by the beginning of the 21st century, there were more than 1,000 telecommunications companies. Nevertheless, several large companies, such as Svyazinvest and Rostelkom, control much of Russia’s telecommunications industry. In addition, Internet use in Russia grew very slowly in the 1990s, particularly outside the major urban areas, but it has since grown fairly steadily.