Economy

Critics say that Russia has not bounced back to the level of economic activity it enjoyed three years ago - when the western world plunged into a sharp recession. With another recession possibly looming, Russia's Prime Minister warned party members Friday that they may have to swallow "bitter pills" of economic austerity.

Saturday, his finance minister, Alexei Kudrin warned Russian reporters in Washington that the world, including Russia, faces a "lost decade" of low growth.  

This week, Russian stock markets and exchange markets dropped to their lowest level in 2 years. This year, Russia is expected to suffer a net capital outflow of $35 billion.

With oil, gas and minerals accounting for 80 percent of Russia export earnings, analysts worry that if China catches a cold, Russia will catch pneumonia.

Khordokovsky weighs in

This week, behind all the hoopla and digital flags of the ruling party voice, there was a voice from the Russian northern wilderness.

Writing from a prison cell near the Arctic Circle, imprisoned former Russian business tycoon Mikhail Khordokovsky gave an email interview to the Reuters News Agency.

Khordokovsky, who failed a decade ago in a political gamble against Putin, wrote:  "The real question is: Will the elections appear fair enough so that the legitimacy of the president is sufficient when the crisis comes? The depth and essence of the crisis I cannot predict, but it is inevitable after 2015."

A crash in world commodity prices could pose the biggest threat to political plans for a Putin quarter century.

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