Re: Russia 's OPERATIONAL Starwars Defense System

From: Eugene Holman (holman_at_elo.helsinki.fi)
Date: 10/27/04 

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 20:14:01 +0300

In article <0uMfd.429406$mD.30425@attbi_s02>, "robert j. kolker"
<nowhere@nowhere.com> wrote:

> REM102204@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Russia 's OPERATIONAL Starwars Defense System
> >
> > In February 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin
> > proposed to the United States and the United Nations a global
> > defense shield (with "Starwars"-type weapons) BASED ON
> > RUSSIAN TECHNOLOGY.
>
> Then why is Russia an economic basket case run by the mafia?

Who claims that Russia is an economic basket case run by the mafia? Russia
is not presently one of the richest countries in the world, but it has a
full complement of natural resources and an industrial plant that produces
such advanced technological products as space satellites, space booster
rockets, state-of-the-art scientific and medical instruments, combined
hydrofoil-catamaran vessels, and space-borne starwars defense systems.
With competent financial management, a growth reate over the past five
years averaging 6.5%, a healthy government budget surplus, $80 billion in
foreign reserves, foreign debt standing at 28% of GDP, and strong oil
export earnings, Russia is far from an economic basket case.

Source: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rs.html#Econ

<quote>
Economy - overview:

Russia ended 2003 with its fifth straight year of growth, averaging 6.5%
annually since the financial crisis of 1998. Although high oil prices and
a relatively cheap ruble are important drivers of this economic rebound,
since 2000 investment and consumer-driven demand have played a noticeably
increasing role. Real fixed capital investments have averaged gains
greater than 10% over the last four years and real personal incomes have
averaged increases over 12%. Russia has also improved its international
financial position since the 1998 financial crisis, with its foreign debt
declining from 90% of GDP to around 28%. Strong oil export earnings have
allowed Russia to increase its foreign reserves from only $12 billion to
some $80 billion. These achievements, along with a renewed government
effort to advance structural reforms, have raised business and investor
confidence in Russia's economic prospects. Nevertheless, serious problems
persist. Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80% of
exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices.
Russia's manufacturing base is dilapidated and must be replaced or
modernized if the country is to achieve broad-based economic growth. Other
problems include a weak banking system, a poor business climate that
discourages both domestic and foreign investors, corruption, local and
regional government intervention in the courts, and widespread lack of
trust in institutions. In addition, a string of investigations launched
against a major Russian oil company, culminating with the arrest of its
CEO in the fall of 2003, have raised concerns by some observers that
President PUTIN is granting more influence to forces within his government
that desire to reassert state control over the economy.

GDP:

purchasing power parity - $1.282 trillion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

7.3% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:

purchasing power parity - $8,900 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 5.2%
industry: 35.1%
services: 59.8% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):

18.2% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:

25% (January 2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 5.9%
highest 10%: 47% (2001)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

39.9 (2001)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

13.7% (2003 est.)

Labor force:

71.68 million (2003 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture 12.3%, industry 22.7%, services 65% (2002 est.)

Unemployment rate:

8.5% plus considerable underemployment (2003 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $83.99 billion
expenditures: $73.75 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003)

Public debt:

34.1% of GDP (2003)

Agriculture - products:

grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk

Industries:

complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil,
gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling
mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; shipbuilding; road
and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural
machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating
and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer
durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate:

7% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:

915 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:

773 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:

21.16 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:

7 billion kWh (2001)

Oil - production:

7.286 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:

2.595 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:

NA (2001)

Oil - imports:

NA (2001)

Oil - proved reserves:

51.22 billion bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:

580.8 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

408.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

205.4 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

32.7 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

47.86 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:

$35.91 billion (2003)

Exports:

$134.4 billion (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:

petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products,
metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military
manufactures

Exports - partners:

Germany 8.4%, Italy 6.2%, China 5.8%, Ukraine 5.7%, Belarus 5.7%,
Netherlands 5.6%, Switzerland 5%, US 4.6% (2003 est.)

Imports:

$74.8 billion (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, sugar,
semifinished metal products

Imports - partners:

Germany 15.4%, Belarus 7.7%, China 7.4%, Ukraine 6.6%, Italy 4.9%, US
4.6%, France 4.5%, Kazakhstan 4.1%, Finland 4.1% (2003 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:

$76.94 billion (2003)

Debt - external:

$175.9 billion (2003)

Economic aid - recipient:

in FY01 from US, $979 million (including $750 million in non-proliferation
subsidies); in 2001 from EU, $200 million (2000 est.)

Currency:

Russian ruble (RUR)

Currency code:

RUR

Exchange rates:

Russian rubles per US dollar - 30.692 (2003), 31.3485 (2002), 29.1685
(2001), 28.1292 (2000), 24.6199 (1999)
note: the post-1 January 1998 ruble is equal to 1,000 of the pre-1 January
1998 rubles

Fiscal year:

calendar year
</quote>

Regards,
Eugene Holman

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