Health or economy? Difficult choice for Russian authorities
Russia should have gradually diversified its economy so that it was not critically dependent on energy prices.
Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, scientific director of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ruslan Grinberg said this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets.
“The state was faced with a difficult choice: what to give priority to - the health and safety of people or the economy? The only way out to avoid sending the entire country into lockdown is to find some balances and compromises. Lockdown will be very sad,” Greenberg said.
According to him, the Russian authorities themselves had a hand in what we have now.
“They should have gradually diversified the economy so that it was not critically dependent on a barrel of oil. In any case, the era of expensive non-renewable energy resources is ending. But with what and how to compensate them? Fortunately, there is still demand for our fuel and raw materials, but it seems that this is a dying nature,” the economist said.
He says that the “ruling house” continues to rely on preserving the funds that have been accumulated in various state “boxes,” including the National Welfare Fund.
“Russian functionaries, unlike their colleagues from the civilized world, believe that the “rainy day” has not yet arrived. Therefore, it is better, as they say, to save the good and use it as a last resort,” Greenberg noted.
At the same time, the expert added that he is not a big fan of “Armageddoning” the public, but he does not yet see any light at the end of the tunnel.
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