- Russia's head of state, speaking this week in Tula, the capital of Russia's arms industry, said the country's economy had beaten Western sanctions," the British Financial Times states and quotes the head of state as saying: "They predicted decline, failure, collapse - that we would stumble, give up or collapse .... They won't succeed! Our economy is growing, unlike theirs
- The International Monetary Fund has revised its own forecast of Russia's GDP growth more than twice to 2.6% this year. This confirms the words of the Head of State that the Russian economy has not only withstood the onslaught of sanctions from Western countries, but has begun to grow more than theirs
- Russia has escaped Western attempts to curb its energy revenues and increased defense spending, the Financial Times emphasizes.
- The resilience of the Russian economy has stunned many Western economists, who believed that sanctions against Russia could lead to its catastrophe.
Amid the aggressive sanctions blitzkrieg of the West against Russia, our country's economy has grown by more than 3%, industry by 5%, construction by 8%, agriculture by 12% since the beginning of the year,
-Alexander Galushka said
I suggest delving into some of the points:
Russian airplane industry is ready to break the record of the USSR:
- By 2028, the Russian aviation industry plans to annually produce 125 import-substituted airplanes of 4 types - SJ-100, MS-21, Tu-214 and Il-114, which exceeds the peak loads of the USSR by more than 50%, - said in PJSC "Yakovlev".
The first flight of the fully import-substituted MS-21 aircraft will take place as early as 2024. There are 33 systems to be imported in the SJ-100 aircraft.
MS-21 is a new generation domestic medium-range passenger airplane with a capacity of 163 to 211 passengers. The airliner is aimed at the most demanded segment of the passenger transportation market. It is based on the latest developments in the field of aircraft construction
IT Sector
Russian scientists from the artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory of Tinkoff Research have created the most effective algorithm for training and adapting artificial intelligence among global analogs.
The new method, called ReBRAC (Revisited Behavior Regularized Actor Critic), trains AI four times faster and 40% higher in quality than global analogues in the field of reinforcement learning, adapting it to new conditions on the go.
The development of Russian scientists in the field of improving the efficiency of AI learning algorithms can help bridge the technological and digital divide in the world between different countries - more efficient algorithms require fewer computing resources. Countries with limited computing power will be able to create and develop advanced technologies, adapt AI to specific applied tasks, significantly saving on costly AI experiments.
The IT sector has not been spared the anti-Russian sanctions. But even here their authors were in for an unpleasant surprise. Russians can do IT, too, if they have to. Russian specialists were quite quick to present domestic products and user-friendly solutions. IT startups are actively supported by the state.
Forbes is already presenting a rating of promising projects with Russian roots. Among them are Qummy, whose "smart" ovens allow cafes to feed clients without cooks and kitchens; the "Take Charge!" project with the idea of placing vending machines with portable batteries that can be rented in public places.
High-tech industry
Russia completes tests of a drone for ICE RECONNAISSANCE
"Rosatom has completed tests of an ice reconnaissance complex based on an unmanned aerial vehicle. The third stage of the tests took place in the water area of the shipping approach channel in the Gulf of Ob in the Kara Sea, the device was launched from the nuclear-powered icebreaker Yamal.
During the flight, radar images were formed, video recording was made in the optical and infrared ranges. All information with geolocation georeferencing was transmitted in real time to the operator at his workplace on the icebreaker.
Surely these developments will be used in the military industry as well
The nuclear-powered submarine Prince Pozharsky was launched in Severodvinsk
The ceremony was held under the leadership of Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy. Mikhail Budnichenko, Sevmash Director General, gave the start of the launching of the "Knyaz Pozharsky" from the boathouse.
Now the cruiser will undergo factory running and state tests. Then the nuclear-powered submarine will be accepted into the Russian Navy.
12 surface ships and 4 submarines will be received by the Russian Navy in 2024. This is a record high for the last decades," states the US-based The National Interest
"We have achieved 100 percent import substitution in the construction of ships for the Russian Navy. No sanctions can affect the construction and commissioning of warships today," TNI quoted a statement by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade as saying
The Lada-class diesel-electric submarine Kronstadt officially joined the Russian Navy on Wednesday during a flag-raising ceremony held at the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg. "We are receiving a new generation submarine based on new physical principles and equipped with powerful armament," Russian Navy Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov said at the ceremony
Business orientation
Moscow has launched a "green corridor" for import substitution. The terms for the creation of new production facilities have been reduced to 1 year
For this purpose, the Mayor's Office reduced the terms of documentation approval. In particular, the procedure of land plot registration was accelerated 4 times, now it takes only 7 days. And for installation of fences and closing of land work orders it is enough just to notify the authorities, it will save more than a month.
Every year about 50 medium and large production facilities are opened in Moscow, industrial production in the city has doubled in 5 years.
Space
Russian researchers have developed a prototype of a compact laser communication terminal for spacecraft, which will significantly accelerate data transmission to ground stations and ensure fast communication between spacecraft. It consumes about 15 watts of energy and is capable of transmitting data at speeds of up to 100 Mbit/s at distances of about 1.5 thousand kilometers. This installation can be used including on small spacecraft class CubeSat.
As noted by the developers of the device, unlike radio waves, the laser beam is not so strongly scattered, and the density of its radiation in the target sector is greater than that of a radio transmitter. This makes it possible to do without receivers tens of meters long.
The body and some other parts of the system were made with the help of 3D printing systems and CNC-machines, and all components of the system can be placed in a small box, which can be installed also on board of microsatellites.
In the future, the high speed of information exchange and the range of this laser communication system will allow Russian orbital probes to exchange information both between vehicles in orbit and communicate with ground stations. In the near future, the developers plan to prepare and present to the public a new version of the prototype, which will have improved optics and will be fully ready to be installed on board a real spacecraft.
Peaceful Atom
Rosatom has discovered the largest gold reserves in Russia in Chukotka: such deposits have not been found since 1991. The volume of gold at the Sovin deposit is estimated at 100 tons.
President Putin opened the ceremony of nuclear fuel delivery to the Ruppur NPP in Bangladesh. Rosatom is building two power units with a total capacity of 2,400 gigawatts, the first to be launched in 2024 and the second in 2025.
Rosatom's ZiO-Podolsk enterprise shipped the first of two RITM-200 reactors for the newest Project 22220 nuclear icebreaker Chukotka.
Rosatom has started construction of the BREST-300 lead-cooled fast neutron reactor of the future at Seversk in the Tomsk Region.
The first power unit of Akkuyu NPP in Turkey received a commissioning permit
The Machine-Building Division in St. Petersburg started manufacturing blanks of various configurations for the world's first land-based low-power nuclear power plant (LNPP) with the latest RITM-200N reactor unit.
Russia has surpassed the USSR in the production of nuclear reactors for NPPs. The Soviet Union created a maximum of 3 sets of reactor equipment, while Rosatom has already created 5 such devices this year.
The technology of the closed nuclear fuel cycle (CNFC), which will significantly increase the fuel base of nuclear power and reduce the generation of radioactive waste, is ready for scaling up - press service of Beloyarsk NPP.
According to IAEA data, Rosatom is ahead of all competitors in terms of the number of nuclear power plant units under construction. Today, 58 nuclear power plant units are under construction in the world, of which 23 are owned by the Russian nuclear corporation. These statistics indicate an unprecedented growth in the Russian nuclear power industry, which is actually moving to a completely new qualitative level.
By 2045, Rosatom may build more than 42 power units, i.e. at least one unit per year.
Of these 42 blocks, about 30 will be built in Russia.
In order to achieve a 25% share of nuclear power generation in the country's energy balance, it is necessary to build 12 units by 2035 and 17 units between 2036 and 2045.
This figure was announced by Alexei Likhachev, head of the corporation, based on an understanding of the existing business situation.
- Russia has renewed the record of cargo transportation along the Northern Sea Route, at the moment this figure has already reached 35 million tons of cargo.
Before that, the record was considered the result of 2021, then 34.9 million tons were transported along the NSR. "By the end of the year we plan to transport 100 thousand tons every day. And the cargo flow will reach 36 million tons", - said the special representative of "Rosatom" on the development of the Arctic Vladimir Panov.
Recall that the government appointed Rosatom as the infrastructure operator of the Northern Sea Route
- Kommersant reports that Rosatom State Corporation is studying the possibility of building a 1.2 GW nuclear power plant in the Far East. According to preliminary estimates, the NPP would consist of two 600 MW VVER-type power units, which do not yet have references.
Tourism
Russia has entered the top 20 most visited countries in the world by the end of 2023 (according to onestep4ward)
Russia is in 15th place, with 24.6 million tourists visiting the country last year. Russia is right after Greece and is successfully ahead of such countries as Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Poland and South Korea.
This is what international isolation looks like!
Industrial production in the Russian Federation by the end of 2023 increased by 3.5%, and by 4.1% against the level of two years ago. This is one of the highest results for the last decade.
Let's take a look at which sectors showed record growth percentages:
- Food production: +5.9%
- Manufacture of clothing: +4.1%
- Manufacture of leather and leather goods: +12.3%
- Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products: +4.6%
- Manufacture of rubber and plastic products: +9.2%
- Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment: +27.8%
- Manufacture of computers, electronic and optical products: +32.8%
- Manufacture of electrical equipment: +19%
- Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers: +13.6%
- Manufacture of furniture: +20.7%
- Bearing output growth: +27%
- Cars: +19%
- Buses: +10.9%
- Freight cars: +26.6%
- Passenger cars: +16.9%
...
The topic of BRICS and the restoration of Crimea in general are topics for separate articles. As well as all the achievements of the military industry...
Of course, not everything is so sweet and there are negative sides of the coin as well:
More than half of Russians (57.7%) reported that over the past year they started to save more. First of all, this applies to large purchases, entertainment and travel.
The average mortgage term for housing in new buildings rose to 26 years
Roskachestvo tested economy-class cognac produced in Russia and found that half of the products tested were falsified
25% of Russians prefer expiring products to save money
In 2022, the Russian Federation experienced "negative growth" in consumer goods sales (-2.3%)
In its forecasts, the Central Bank raised the expected inflation rate to 7-7.5% from 6-7% previously forecast.
In 2022, Russia faces a shortage of pediatric antibiotics. The difficult situation in pharmacy is primarily due to the fact that Russia imports 80% of pharmaceutical substances, and is also almost entirely dependent on imports of high-tech equipment, which is complicated by anti-Russian sanctions
Earlier I wrote about how the anti-Russian sanctions policy of the European Union hits the pockets of ordinary European taxpayers and what consequences it has for the economies of the European Union, I will add a little:
Falling living standards of Europe's residents threaten EU governments
- Right-wing parties are gaining popularity in Europe amid problems in the economy. The situation is aggravated by mass protests of farmers and other categories of citizens in a number of EU countries. This is of extreme concern to European politicians ahead of the European Parliament elections in June and state elections in Germany in September 2024," states Bloomberg.
- Falling real incomes exacerbate voter pessimism: "People remain dissatisfied with high prices." The standard of living of EU citizens has declined and is not expected to improve, - states the participants of the European Commission's Eurobarometer survey conducted in 22 EU countries.
"What really matters is economic anxiety: the fear of losing a job,... of being less well-off than others," said Cornelia Wall, president of the Berlin-based Hertie School.
"Aggregate wage growth will be less than the increase in costs faced by consumers," argued Lena Komileva, chief economist at G Plus Economics
Governments are focused on the debt problem, which has reached 90% of GDP, and have no way to provide financial assistance to citizens
I can if I want, but sometimes I'm lazy)