Foreign Capital Flees Russian Depression (1998)

The End of Moscow's Party (1998)
The Russian economic crisis exacerbated by fickle foreign investors

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The economic problems of the late 1990s plunged Russia into crisis. The day the ruble plunged by 22%, Russian Vogue held a monumental launch party. The cream of Moscow’s elite crowded a glitzy shopping arcade and pretended not to notice the air of impending doom all around. At the Red Star model agency Natalia flashes a stunning smile. She puts a brave face on the devastating statistic that in 2 weeks they lost 95% of their business as western investors fled. For this new middle class the party is over and the crisis that’s been raging in the Provinces has come to the capital to roost. Arctic Miners who’ve gone unpaid for 6 months hammer together flimsy shelters in central Moscow. In a last ditch protest they bang their helmets on the steps of the Moscow’s White House. The hollow sound rings through the corridors of power, a reminder of Russians’ emptying stomachs. Boris and Masha are now both unemployed. A move to a country cottage in better times is now their saviour. Former government researchers, they’re now full-time subsistence farmers. Masha echoes the biggest fear “Many people talk of hunger...but it’s not just a matter of prices going up, food may disappear altogether.” Getting drunk on vodka, miner Vlad bluntly sums up the disillusionment: “Capitalism is shit.”

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ABC Australia: Ref 0492

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