Crisis wave hits regions
Published 18 November, 2008, 06:07
The echo of the global financial crisis is being felt in the Russian regions.
The residents of Vologda, a mid-sized town in the heart of the country, earn an average income and, taking after Moscow, Vologda has built its own shopping malls and fast food restaurants. Now its citizens fear it will further take after the capital and into financial meltdown.
Tatyana Chekhovich, a single mother, became a taxi driver just over a year ago. Until recently, she earned enough to support her two children but times have changed.
“The situation is affecting us directly. Taxis are the first thing that people start to skimp on. Just a couple of months ago I was getting orders over the radio all the time, but it’s getting quieter lately,” she told RT.
At the weekend Tatyana visits her father. He doesn't own any shares. Much of the food he eats, he grows himself. Since electricity in his village is turned off every winter, the world's energy prices shouldn't have much of an impact. Yet the basic goods on which he spends most of his $250 a month pension have been hit hardest by inflation, and his children are less able to supplement his income. Yet surprisingly, he isn't getting too anxious about the prospect of an economic collapse.
“We are the generation that grew up in the war. For us, as long as there isn't a war happening, we'll just get along somehow,” he said.
Nikolay Zubkov is a bank manager. His branch has given many locals the first loans of their lives, funding the purchases of cars, houses and domestic appliances. While he admits less credit is available, the bank is not struggling with bad loans. He warns against making the crisis a reality, simply by anticipating it.
“If we let panic set it, we will only be making it worse. We mustn't think of the crisis as inevitable,” he said.
Stockbrokers with their heads in their hands have been the stereotypical image of this crisis, but now it is spreading through the country. And those who are most vulnerable to it may be least able to resist it.
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