By Vishnu Makhijani, IANS
Moscow : This Russian capital is home to 50 billionaires who control 17 percent of the country’s economy, a sign of the turnaround that began in 1996, five years after the disintegration of the erstwhile Soviet Union.
Small wonder then, that a recent report showed that more Mercedes Benz cars were sold in Moscow in 2006 than in all of Western Europe.
The economic boom, however, has had its flip side with inflation at a crushing 8.5 percent. But despite this, there are no visible signs of poverty in the streets.
High-rise apartments are being constructed everywhere one looks; the roads are packed with cars, making for enormous traffic jams through the day. The city is chock-a-bloc with high-end shopping malls; hotels are booked to capacity; the bars are crowded with young couples and singletons who drink till late into the night like there is no tomorrow.
Still, inflation is a major cause of worry, prompting President Vladimir Putin to go on television Friday to assure the Russian people that the country would not see an economic meltdown when he steps down next year.
He also sought to allay fears that his policies – that have seen the country’s oil-driven boom trickling down to the poor – wouldn’t be continued after next March’s presidential election.
“Many Russians, however, are worried that the stability after the turbulent 1990s will evaporate once Putin leaves the Kremlin,” The Moscow Times reported Friday.
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Walking Moscow’s streets reveals a harsh reality – the almost total lack of small children. Strange as it may sound, high rents are responsible.
“It’s not that wages are low. But the prohibitive rents force people to rent accommodation in the suburbs, where too you pay in the region of 5,000 roubles for a decent place to live,” a Russian official explained.
“If you live in the suburbs, you need to buy a car to commute to work and back. The rent and the car loan, thus, account for the bulk of your salary. Thus, very few young people are getting married today and those that are married, refrain from having children,” he added.
All this in a country where the gender ratio is two females to every male.
Alarmed by the ageing population, Putin announced in July monetary benefits to encourage young couples to have children.
Under this, the government will give couples 250,000 roubles for their first child. Fifty percent of this will be paid in cash and the remainder banked, with the couple receiving a fixed amount every month towards meeting the needs of their child.
The birth of a second child will get the couple 250,000 roubles more.
Whether or not the scheme is successful will become clear around this time next year.
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The other thing that hits one about Moscow’s streets is the total lack of two wheelers of any kind.
“The traffic is so heavy in most parts of the town that it makes it dangerous for bikers. In some parts, the traffic is so fast that it makes it equally dangerous for them,” a policeman explained.
“There is nothing in writing, but bikers just stay away,” he added.
Can you imagine an Indian city without its ubiquitous two-wheelers? Perish the thought!