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The Great Recession in Russia was a crisis in the Russian financial markets as well as an economic recession that was compounded by political fears after the war with Georgia and by the plummeting price of Urals heavy crude oil, which lost more than 70% of its value since its record peak of US$147 on 4 July 2008 before rebounding moderately in 2009. According to the World Bank, Russia’s strong short-term macroeconomic fundamentals made it better prepared than many emerging economies to deal with the crisis, but its underlying structural weaknesses and high dependence on the price of a single commodity made its impact more pronounced than would otherwise be the case.〔.〕 In late 2008 during the onset of the crisis, Russian markets plummeted and more than $1 trillion had been wiped off the value of Russia's shares, although Russian stocks rebounded in 2009 becoming the world’s best performers, with the Micex index having more than doubled in value and regaining half its 2008 losses.〔.〕 As the crisis progressed, Reuters and the Financial Times speculated that the crisis would be used to increase the Kremlin's control over key strategic assets in a reverse of the "loans for shares" sales of the 1990s, when the state sold off major assets to the oligarchs in return for loans. In contrast to this earlier speculation, in September 2009 the Russian government announced plans to sell state energy and transport holdings in order to help plug the budget deficit and to help improve the nation's aging infrastructure. The state earmarked about 5,500 enterprises for divestment and plans to sell shares in companies that are already publicly traded, including Rosneft, the country’s biggest oil producer.〔.〕 From July 2008 – January 2009, Russia's foreign exchange reserves (FXR) fell by $210 billion from their peak to $386 billion as the central bank adopted a policy of gradual devaluation to combat the sharp devaluation of the ruble. The ruble weakened 35% against the dollar from the onset of the crisis in August to January 2009.〔.〕 As the ruble stabilized in January the reserves began to steadily grow again throughout 2009, reaching a year-long high of $452 billion by year's-end.〔(Fitch Downgrades Russia To BBB ), Dow Jones (via Easy Bourse), 4 February 2009.〕〔(Russian foreign reserves ) Bloomberg Retrieved on 16 December 2009〕 Russia's economy emerged from recession in the third quarter of 2009 after two quarters of record negative growth.〔(Russian Economy Exited Recession in Third Quarter ) Bloomberg Retrieved on 16 December 2009〕 GDP contracted by 7.9% for the whole of 2009,〔(Russia Suffered Record Economic Contraction in 2009 ) Bloomberg Retrieved on 1 February 2009〕 slightly less than the economic ministry's prediction of 8.5%.〔(Russia's economy to reach pre-crisis level by late 2012 ) RIA Novosti Retrieved on 16 December 2009〕 Experts expect Russia's economy will grow modestly in 2010, with estimates ranging from 3.1% by the Russian economic ministry〔(RUSSIA 2010: Slow build over first half to boom in 2011 ) Business News Europe. Retrieved 21 January 2010〕 to 2.5%, 3.6% and 4.9% by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) respectively.〔(Russian Federation and the IMF ) International Monetary Fund Retrieved on 3 February 2010〕〔(World Bank Economic Outlook ) World Bank Retrieved on 16 December 2009〕〔(OECD Economic Outlook No. 86, November 2009 ) OECD Retrieved on 16 December 2009〕 ==Background== Russia is a major exporter of commodities such as oil and metals, so its economy has been hit hard〔.〕 by the decline in the price of many commodities. Russian stock market declined significantly. Foreign investors have pulled billions of dollars out of Russia on concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions with the West following the military conflict between Georgia and Russia,〔.〕 as well as concerns about state interference in the economy. Those concerns were underscored in July by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's criticism of steel company Mechel collapsing the company's stock.〔.〕〔.〕〔.〕〔.〕 By September 2008, the RTS stock index plunged almost 54%, making it one of the worst performing markets in the world.〔.〕 Russian involvement in the US subprime mortgage crisis contributed to the volatility in Russia's financial system. The Russian Central Bank owned US$100 Billion of mortgage-backed securities of the two American mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that were taken over by the US government. This investment most likely will have to be written off. Many analysts, including Andrei Illarionov, former economic policy adviser to then-President Vladimir Putin, claim that in Russia the crisis in the stock market was deepened dramatically by internal factors, including concerns over state interference in the economy fueled in June by Putin's criticism of Mechel and the conflict over TNK-BP, lack of transparency in banking and political risks associated with escalating geopolitical tensions following the 2008 South Ossetia war in August.〔.〕 Swedish Foreign minister Carl Bildt said on 17 September that the current Russian financial crisis is "obviously more worrying" than the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis in view of the political development in Russia.〔.〕 Furthermore, Russia's overt reliance on the oil and natural gas sector made it particularly vulnerable. According to the ''Wall Street Journal'' and Gazeta.ru, as the Russian market declined in September, conspiracy theories circulated in Russia among the leadership that the U.S. government allegedly incited American investors to withdraw their capitals from Russia, punishing Moscow for the recent war in Georgia.〔.〕〔.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Great Recession in Russia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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