Today’s Russia

Throughout my school (at least my school in particular), there is a common joke theme that has found itself travelling around the school; a selection of jokes beginning with ‘In Soviet Russia…’. The idea is that when something happens in ‘The West’ (here), the opposite happens in Soviet Russia. For example, one of my favourites is ‘In Soviet Russia, fleas get dog’.

Presumably, this is a direct result of iGCSE History, where we cover both Communist Russia 1917-24 and Communist China 1934-1989, where leaders were so unbelievably anti-capitalist that they would take whatever measures to separate their country from the free markets of the West. It is interesting to see when Vladimir Lenin took control of Russia, following the October Revolution of 1917, that before his death in 1924, the only thing that benefited the lives and quality of life of the Russian populace was something known as the NEP (New Economic Policy), where he introduced a temporary free market in order to get the Russian economy running after the devastating Civil War. The issue is that the whole time, Lenin was attempting to distance himself from Western capitalism, but the only beneficial thing he did for these people followed a capitalist idea; the free market.

Interestingly enough, one thing that makes these comments amusing for us is the utter knowledge that none of it is actually true in today’s society. At school, we were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to study Russian from the age of 11; an opportunity which I, and seven others, decided to grasp. This has given us a particularly good knowledge of Russian society and culture, and while we are all aware of the famously beautiful, yet depressing Russian cultural aspects, such as music (Tchaikovsky and Shostakovitch) and literature (Dostoevsky and Tolstoy), among others, we have always been under the impression that Russia is still a bit stuck in the past, concerning a lack of development opportunities.

Fortunately for all of us, especially those studying Russia, this idea is changing rapidly. Russia is one of the four BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), a set of countries who have experienced increasingly rapid economic growth over recent years, leading to their emergence as global economic superpowers. Also, today, I was lucky enough to attend a conference at my dad’s work, UK Trade and Investment North West, concerning business aspirations for British companies in Russia. With the oncoming 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and the 2018 World Cup, Russia is eager for global investment, creating infinite possibilities and opportunities for British companies.

And these aspirations come from the most unlikely of places. I spoke to Alan Richardson, the CEO of Hart Door Systems Ltd., a company which specializes in the formation and selling of fire doors, which are doors specially designed to conceal fires and prevent them from spreading. This company have been commissioned for many large-scale projects, such as the new Olympic Stadium in London and London’s famous St Pancreas Station. He is hoping to expand into Russia in the near future, with particular focus on the 2018 World Cup, where the Russians plan to supply 12 high-quality stadia in 11 cities throughout Western Russia.

But there wasn’t only a focus on sporting events. I also spoke to a woman who has developed a Rubik’s-Cube-type toy which she hopes to take over to Russia, having already sold it to Aeroflot, the Russian national airline. Another woman present was part of PVC Recycling, and interested in bringing her ideas to Russia.

The point here is that most ideas of Russia are simple misconceptions, surrounding mostly the KGB, the Pogroms and copious amounts of Smirnoff vodka. But the truth of the matter is that Russia is a gold mine (allegorically, but probably physically as well). If Russia continues to receive increasing amounts of interest and investment, thus resulting in developments in their economy, soon they will be the next global economic powerhouse. According to the International Monetary Fund, Russia has the eighth largest economy in the world, with a GDP of over $2,000,000,000,000. And whilst Russia continues to expand, the UK has only just managed to avoid a ‘triple-dip’ recession. So we better watch out, as whilst these countries develop, we are getting left behind.