Press Release, 20.10.2016

Proceeding from the forecast of the development of the Russian economy until 2035 published by the Ministry of Economic Development, the economy will be struggling to overcome the stagnation of the next 20 years, but it will not succeed. This forecast was publish by the Vedomosti newspaper today. Coming out of the recession in 2017, the economy will grow very slowly in the next 20 years by 2 per cent per year on the average (from 1.7 per cent to the maximum of 2.6 per cent). This is about 1.5 times less than the world average rates: thus, Russia will be moving closer towards the poorest countries.

Annual growth of real incomes will constitute 1.4 per cent on the average, and only in 2021 will reach the level of 2013. This level may be exceeded by less than 30 per cent only by 2035. In terms of comparison, the such growth of real incomes was demonstrated in 2006 – 2007.

YABLOKO leader Grigory Yavlinsky has repeatedly stressed that in 20 years it would be “impossible to get Russia out of the irreversible retardation zone, if the present policies were preserved”. “A global change of cycles has been taking place in the world: economic, technological, financial and social cycles. No one knows how these changes will happen, but it is absolutely clear that Russia is not involved in this at all. We are not thinking about alternative energy sources, or the problem of private space flights, or virtual currencies and coresponding technologies,” Yavlinsky noted speaking at a meeting of the Federal Political Committee of the party on 28 January, 2016.

“A competitive race for the future prospects begins, but Russia has not even approached it. A new paradigm of further development of the humanity has been emerging, while Russia has been deliberately standing apart saying that it intends to stand on the sidelines and invents its own extremely provincial peripheral location. It does not want to do anything else and is proud of it,” Yavlinsky said then.

This topic was raised by Grigory Yavlinsky in the election debates. At the last debate broadcast by television Yavlinsky warned that the problem of Russia’s place in the world whether it would be among the developed countries or not would be resolved at those parliamentary elections. If the country fails to break up with the system of theft and lies, does not change the government, the president, the policies and the power, it may face a real danger of disintegration, he noted.