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Description:
The last decade of the past century has been dominated by growing decentralization in Russia, both in economic and political terms. The major factors driving decentralization were the weakness of the federal government and of President Yeltsin, as well as the poor performance of the federal budget. As a consequence of decentralization, economic policy in Russia was increasingly determined at the regional level, resulting in economic fragmentation and in numerous barriers to the movement of goods and production factors. Although the economic upturn and the relative political stability which returned to the country with the election of President Putin have halted the separatist regional trends, interregional economic barriers are still substantial. The enormous disparities across Russian regions observed nowadays are partly linked to the inherited economic structure and the varying ability of different branches to respond to the shocks of transition, but also to the policies pursued by the regional administrations. On the one hand, raw materials extraction and exporting continue to bring most revenues, benefiting the few richly endowed regions. On the other hand, whereas in many areas of central Russia a still unreformed and uncompetitive manufacturing sector (including defence production) is a major factor behind depressed incomes, some regions have been relatively successful in their restructuring efforts, often via creating an attractive investment environment. The 'core' area in terms of attractiveness for investors includes the axis Moscow - St. Petersburg, as well as the axis stretching from Moscow eastwards. Over the period following the 1998 crisis, the Russian banking sector has recovered substantially, with assets, market capitalization, and the volumes of both deposits and loans all rising in real terms. However, banking assets still correspond to just 39% of GDP - much below the levels observed in most Central European transition countries. The banks' capitalization of 6% of GDP, the volume of credit ...