The speaker reviewed the difficulties that the Russian
economy witnessed in1997. He provided several negative
indicators including the rate of the GDP decline by 40
percent, the shrinking of the industrial production
by half and the agricultural sector decreasing to 35
percent. The standard of living reached its minimum in
November 1997 at the level of RUR 408,000 (less than
US$70) per month. The incomes of 34.7 million citizens
did not reach the minimum, which made Russia rank, in
1997, 76th among the countries of the world.
The speaker also discussed the case of instability
that prevails in Russia on political and security levels—
which has led to the growth of pressure groups, mainly
financial and industrial unions, as they control almost
half the economic sector. In addition, security forces
inside Russia are unable to gain full control of the
security situation.