Russian state takes another bite of economy
The Russian government has presented a plan with 55 measures on how to overcome the looming economic crisis in the country. Among the measures are massive state support to domestic manufacturers and the initiation of huge state-supported investment projects.
According to newspaper Vedomosti, the government will in 2009 step up state orders from domestic industry with 100 percent to a total of 8 trillion RUB (23 billion EUR).
The plan of measures, available on the government website, also includes closer state control of the major banks. Central Bank representatives will be placed in the management of several of the country’s biggest banks in order to ensure that state money reaches its intended targets.
In addition, the government is pushing on the country’s major companies to initiate huge projects in order to revitalize demands. According to the Moscow Times, state corporations and state-controlled “natural monopolies” like Gazprom have until the new year to increase the tempo of their investment plans in order to maintain domestic demand.
If these corporations move their enormous investment projects ahead, this will boost slackening demand for metals, energy and equipment, creating jobs for people currently being laid off, Yelena Matrosova, macroeconomic research director at the consulting firm BDO Unicon, told the newspaper.
