With Russia's stock market up approximately 80% year to date, CNBC television anchor Maria Bartiromo recently sat down with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss what lies ahead for Russia's heavily energy-dependent economy. Russia, the 'R' of the famous 'B.R.I.C.' acronym, owns the world's largest natural gas reserves and, as a result of the global slowdown that began in late 2007, witnessed its GDP shrink by a staggering 9.5% during the first quarter of 2009. Looking to the immediate future, economists are currently forecasting that the volatile pace of decline in Russian economic activity will slow during the 2nd quarter by a less break-neck rate of 6.5%.In the below five minute interview segment, President Medvedez appears poised to utilize the government's vast resources ($600 BILLION U.S. dollars) to help deliver stabilization to Russia's volatile economy. Mr. Medvedez's current strategy appears focused on diversifying the country away from the energy and commodities sectors and into biotechnology sciences and information technology. Lastly, it's interesting to note that, according to CNBC, Russia's current unemployment rate is higher than the U.S's and stands at 10.2%...a figure that implies that about 7.7 million Russians are currently unemployed and looking for work.
Data Courtesy: CNBC
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