Russia's Development Prospects: An Optimistic Assessment Dr. Olga Bobrova

at the Chair of Economics and Management of Enterprises and

Industrial Complexes,
St. Petersburg State University of Economics, Russia

October 2018

Finance. In 2004 I came back to teach students.
2004 -

research fellow at CEMAT, Helsinki, Finland
2006 – appointed to help students with internships
2007 – dissertation (PhD thesis) in management
2011 – research fellow at KIER, Kyoto, Japan
2015 - overseas visiting researcher at the Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia (ERINA), Niigata, Japan
2014-2015 – Textbook for students and entrepreneurs
2016 – Research monograph
2017 – granted by Potanin Fund to develop master’s program for managers
2017 - appointed to provide students with extra-curricular activities (enterprises visits, guest lectures, project activity, cultural program in St.Petersburg)

side:
Your name please.
Where do you come from?
What do you study

during this semester?
What would you like to know about Russia?

development
Investments and digitalization
Social improvements
Conclusions

is a persistent sense of surprise as expectations are confounded”*.

Russia keeps the foreigners guessing about what will happen next in political and economic sphere.

* A. Monaghan. The new politics of Russia. Manchester University Press, 2016 p.3.

country possesses; stable internal demand
• Dramatic changes on oil ＆

gas world markets
• Mentality (rooted in the Orthodox Christianity)
• Northern climate conditions on the biggest part of the territory
• Encourage from the state to keep business working due to safety and security reasons
• Infrastructure for business created during last 30 years and the soviet heritage
• Path dependence
High society’s expectations and, in the same time, modest needs of our middle class. People agree with the present life-quality level, especially in cities

2017”

December 31, 2014 (Federal Law No. 488), building on lessons

learned from other countries and Russian business expectations. It governs:
manufacturing,
industrial parks,
industrial clusters,
engineering centers

is now empowered to issue special investment contracts to private

businesses.

Tools to imply the industrial policy

businesses entities of strategic importance for national defence and state

security, and governmental approval is mandatory for minority stakes.
World Investment Report 2018
Peace through strength attitude is still on agenda of Russian policy-makers (see S.Rosefielde’s “Kremlin Strikes Back” .

has caused a rapid rise in the numbers of online

users and the participation of the population in the digital economy. This is particularly visible in large cities, less so in rural areas… More and more households enjoy broadband connectivity, including on mobile devices. Expert assessments point to a growing confidence of the Russian population in digital government, digital participation, the sharing economy and the use of payment cards”. Russian Economic Report, May 2018

Program with an expected annual budget of USD 1.8 billion

until 2025 …

Focus on the digital transformation of the traditional economy, not just the ICT sector.

Russian Economic Report, May 2018

digital transformation in Russia will reach an impressive 19-to-34 percent

of GDP. The World Bank indicates that by 2025, digital transformation may lead to the creation of between 7 and 13 million new digital-economy jobs in the country, and potential productivity gains of over USD 38 billion.
Russian Economic Report, May 2018

agricultural production of all producers (agricultural enterprises, peasant (farm) enterprises

and individual entrepreneurs, household farms) in 2016 (in accordance with provisional data) at actual prices amounted to 5626.0 billion roubles or 104.8 % by comparative assessment of the corresponding period of 2015. Gross harvest of grain in the Russian Federation in 2016 made 120.7 million ton (weight after processing), which was 15.9 million ton (by 15.2 %) above the level of the previous year”.

raised to 60 from the current 55. For men, the

age is rising from 60 to 65. The changes are supposed to be raised by one year every year over the course of the next five years.
It’s an important source of the labor force, as well as a contribution into the sustainable social development

and national economic systems. EU enlargement and integration of Europe

and Asia determine the current economic situation on Eurasia continent.

Our opinion is that the current situation gives many chances to Russian economy and society to pursue own strategy and play a leading role in the Eurasian economic integration

and related fields. Many international students
Student exchange
International research and project

teams
Academic exchange

Cooperation with UNC

the new millennium and appears poised to build further on

its past accomplishments.
Agriculture enjoys import-substitution
Social capital of Russia is growing