Always interesting to read people’s impressions of their visits to Russia, especially as I haven’t been there myself for a few years now.
Driving into the city of Voronezh from the airport, I could see entirely new neighborhoods, supermarkets, office buildings, and the like. In 2003, there was only one shopping mall in the whole city, and it was nothing special. Now, there were malls as huge as any in Toronto.
Absolutely tallies with my own impressions as well as statistics. Here are some articles from my archives on this:
- On food consumption and housing access. See also more recent update from Alexander Mercouris.
- On automobile ownership (has approximately doubled in past decade, and is now at 317/1,000; still lags the First World, but is well ahead of the Second i.e. Latin America/Middle East. And Russian public transport is good).
- Internet penetration (soared from around 20% in 2005 to two thirds of the population today; that’s basically equivalent to countries like Greece or Italy).
- Gastronomic revolution – written not by myself, but by a repatriate.
There are indeed a lot more immigrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia, and it is a very charged political topic. That said, an acquaintance who is currently based in Tajikistan says that the 2014 devaluation resulted in a big outflow of Gastarbeiters back home.
I wasn’t surprised to see Ukrainian refugees in a big city like Voronezh, but it was surprising to see so many in remote farming villages. And each refugee family had a horror story to tell. It’s one thing to hear these stories from professional journalists; it’s another to hear them from ordinary people who aren’t being paid to say what they say. This is an underappreciated factor in the growing anger among Russians against the Ukrainian government.
After all that’s happened, I don’t see how eastern Ukraine will ever accept being ruled by Kiev. It’s like a marriage that has crossed the line between verbal abuse and physical violence.
There’s currently something like a million recent Ukrainian refugees in Russia.
“I just don’t get it,” said my wife. “Prices are almost as high here as in Canada, yet the wages are a lot lower. How do people manage to survive?”
The essentials of life are much cheaper, though.
(1) According to the Big Mac Index, standard fast food is quite a lot cheaper in Russia than Canada. Most food of the sort you buy in supermarkets – and especially in open door farmers’ markets, which is where many Russians still do their groceries – are also a lot cheaper. Example: I’m somewhat of a pickled cucumber addict (specifically made in brine, not vinegar). In Russia they are produced by rural babushkas and cost pennies. In the US, they are produced by hippies with liberal arts degrees from UC Berkeley, and are sold for $7 a bottle at Whole Foods.
(2) Most Russians – something like 90%, thanks to the post-Soviet privatization of homes – own their own properties, so few have to spend money on rent. Additionally, there is no public shame with living in with your parents for a long time, as you have in the Anglo-Saxon world. Utilities are also really cheap in global terms (even if they are constantly rising). So there are typically very big savings on accomodation costs relative to what you see in the far more mobile West.
The gray economy (additional wages in envelopes) is still pretty prevalent if less so than 10 years ago.
Sure, imported goods like electronics are either as expensive or even more so, but in conjunction with the above factors, most Russians can now afford things like cell phones, computers, and cheaper cars.
They are now aging badly, and North Americans wouldn’t hesitate to call them “slums.”
They do indeed look pretty crap from the outside, but I found that this is in many cases a mistaken impression (albeit one that is reinforced by Russians’ lack of care for maintaining nice clean public spaces). The room interiors themselves are usually a very different story with good wooden furnity, a Persian carpet on the wall, chandeliers, etc. Moreover, and somewhat surprisingly, the blocky Soviet era constructions – despite being aesthetically challenged – are usually structurally better than the artsier but much flimsier newer constructions. This is a joint result of the large-scale corruption in the construction industry and the capitalist motive to minimize costs.
One of my professors ascribed it to the yearly cycle of traditional farm life. For most of the year, the muzhik slept a lot and whiled away his days in aimlessness. But when it came time to plough the fields or bring in the harvest, he had to pull out all stops and work continuously from dawn to dusk.
He must have borrowed or paraphrased a classical phrase/quoteon this topic from one of the great Russian 19th century historians – probably Karamzin, Solovyev, or Klyuchevsky – has a great quote on that. Can’t for the life of me recall who it was though, or its precise wording.
Your post on per capita car sales in Russia made me curious of the total size of the market. The Russian car market is large. 2014 Russian car sales were 2.5 million, down 10% from 2013. Top brands: Lada #1 as every year for decades, followed by Kia, Renault, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota. A smaller market than Germany 3 million, about the same as UK 2.5m, bigger than France 1.8m, of course in terms of units sold not value. There are 12 Chinese car companies trying to crack the Russian market. All info from here http://bestsellingcarsblog.com/
Life in Voronezh is definitely much cheaper than, for example, in New Zealand – I can compare firsthand. Saying it is all the same while wages are much lower is simply untrue. Of course, not having to pay rent/mortgage makes a huge difference, but even aside from that public transportation, for example, is ridiculously cheap – and that includes taxis. You can do quite well here without a car with all the associated costs – while in NZ it is virtually impossible. Food comes out cheaper as well, especially if you are not so lazy as to avoid shopping anywhere that is more than 100 m from your house, and you do not base your diet around expensive imports. Of course, Voronezh, unlike Izhevsk, is fortunate enough to be in the Black Earth Belt, so the local produce situation is far better here.
Carpets on walls are actually extremely rare these days. Open-air farmers’ markets have been largely eliminated, the present-day markets are indoors and are generally much more strictly regulated. Same goes for outdoor kiosks that used to be such a feature of the ’90s. Maintenance of nice clean public spaces has improved, but there is still a long way to go. Young people who have not been lucky enough to inherit an apartment of sufficient size from their parents/grandparents have to buy their own apartments/houses and often take out a mortgage. Of course, the large numbers of those moving to Moscow and other big cities do not have anyone to inherit accommodation from, so they have no choice.
A copy of my comment to the Peter Frost article:
@AP
Actually, utility costs are no longer very low in Russia. They come to around 1/5-1/4 of the median wage which is hardly negligible. My mother’s pension covers them with not too much left over. Of course, my mother is not yet 60 and does not live on her pension alone, and pensions increase with age, but it is still significant.
Pretty much the same as China. I remember seeing these desolate looking apartment blocks in Beijing, but once you went inside the flats were clean, pleasant and well-decorated. Still, it kind of sucks to walk around outside when people don’t give a damn about the overall neighborhood aesthetic. What’s holding people back from beautifying their outside space? It is a human instinct to do so, after all. Somehow I doubt Russians are immune to the charms of flower gardens and nicely painted buildings.
In regards to the Russian ability to defend their own territory ferociously, I don’t think it’s all that mysterious. First, Russia is huge and there are a lot of people. Then there’s the environmental factor. Who knows how to survive in Russia better than Russians? Also, there’s the question of how much invaders really want to stay in Russia. Not so much, I’d wager.
And finally, Russians have faith. We Americans call it “soul.” If you believe in something loftier than your own life, you are deadlier than a mercenary. The angels are on your side. Death is not so bad, and life can be worse. I, for one, can sympathize. I am half Celt, and there’s a similar sentiment among those people.
The Russian nation has been forged in the crucible of faith. This is stronger than any confederation of pirates. The crucifixion is a reality of the Russian experience, and a beautiful thing it is.
It is not necessarily that one does not want to beautify the outside, it is that one has no power to do so unless one owns the entire apartment building, or the entire block for that matter. A neighbour of mine maintains quite a pretty garden in front of the building entrance, but she has no ability to repaint the building, for instance. Private houses are another thing, those can be beautified to your heart’s content.