Low Oil Prices And Sanctions Are Killing The Russian Economy

VOA: Russian Economy Killers: Oil and Sanctions

NEW YORK CITY — Russian President Vladimir Putin gets a bad report card, even a failing grade, for his handling of the economic crisis in his country, according to 27 percent of analysts who participated in a major survey conducted by Bloomberg Business.

These are hard times in Russia, with the collapse in oil prices, economic sanctions against the country for its actions in Ukraine, the collapse of the ruble and significantly impaired economic growth.

Russia's growth started to decline rapidly in the first quarter of 2012, well before oil prices fell or economic sanctions took hold. The World Bank estimates that by 2017, Russia's GDP will be smaller than it was in 2012.

Russia's former finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, says he believes the economy is likely to decline in 2016, although he thinks growth is possible in 2017.

Update #1: Russian Economy to Grow by 1.3% in 2017 - World Bank (Sputnik)
Update #2: Video: A Gloomy New Year For Russian Economy (IBTimes)
Update #3: Russia's oil output hits record high despite price slump (i24 News)

WNU Editor: Let me put it this way .... everyone that I know in Russia is not expecting a pay raise this year.