Russia warns of likely unrest due to meltdown
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 25, 2008 00:00
ISTANBUL - Russia may face an upheaval due to the global crisis, the interior ministery warns, in Moscow's clearest admission yet on how badly it has been hit. Underlining the finacial woes, an official says Russia would run a budget deficit in 2009.
Russia's worsening economic situation may spark popular unrest, the interior ministry warned yesterday, in the first high-level admission that unpaid wages and job losses could lead to protests.
The Kremlin and Russian media have tried to ease public concern over the impact of the economic slowdown, despite a contraction in the economy and a series of ruble devaluations against the dollar and euro.
At the weekend, riot police detained around 100 people in the Pacific city of Vladivostok who were protesting at new used car import duties imposed to protect the domestic auto industry.
Economic discontent could create a "protest mood," Deputy Interior Minister Mikhail Sukhodolsky said in comments carried by the RIA Novosti news agency. "The situation may be exacerbated by a growth in protests, arising from the frustration of workers over the non-payment of wages or those threatened with dismissal," Sukhodolsky said, according to a report by Reuters.
Other causes of unrest could include "unpopular measures implemented under the anti-crisis program", he said, adding that the number of unemployed might increase significantly.
Some observers have warned that Russia's mounting economic woes could lead to further anti-government protests. Sukhodolsky said the crisis could also increase crime by destitute people, singling out the many foreign workers employed in Russia. "The reality is, the country could face a significant increase of marginal elements without the means to live," he said, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
Growing dissatisfaction
According to a November poll released on Dec. 15 by the Moscow-based Public Opinion Foundation, thirty-nine percent of Russians have a growing dissatisfaction with the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In some regions, the level of public discontent is more than 50 percent, it said.
"The worse the crisis gets, the more dissatisfaction will grow, especially with regional authorities," Lyudmila Presnyakova, the poll’s organizer, told Bloomberg. "As unemployment rises, so will the potential for mass unrest."
An advisor to President Dmitry Medvedev, meanwhile, said yesterday that Russia would run a budget deficit in 2009 for the first time in years.
"Yes, there undoubtedly will be," Arkady Dvorkovich said when asked whether Russia would have a deficit next year, according to RIA Novosti.
"The deficit is caused by the fall in oil prices, above all," he said, adding that the government would tap into its reserves accumulated from years of high oil prices in order to cover the gap.
He also held out the possibility that Russia could seek external loans to overcome the fallout from the global financial crisis.
"If necessary, we will do this," Dvorkovich was quoted as saying by news agencies, although he added that Russia would not turn to the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, as it did in the 1990s.
The Kremlin and Russian media have tried to ease public concern over the impact of the economic slowdown, despite a contraction in the economy and a series of ruble devaluations against the dollar and euro.
At the weekend, riot police detained around 100 people in the Pacific city of Vladivostok who were protesting at new used car import duties imposed to protect the domestic auto industry.
Economic discontent could create a "protest mood," Deputy Interior Minister Mikhail Sukhodolsky said in comments carried by the RIA Novosti news agency. "The situation may be exacerbated by a growth in protests, arising from the frustration of workers over the non-payment of wages or those threatened with dismissal," Sukhodolsky said, according to a report by Reuters.
Other causes of unrest could include "unpopular measures implemented under the anti-crisis program", he said, adding that the number of unemployed might increase significantly.
Some observers have warned that Russia's mounting economic woes could lead to further anti-government protests. Sukhodolsky said the crisis could also increase crime by destitute people, singling out the many foreign workers employed in Russia. "The reality is, the country could face a significant increase of marginal elements without the means to live," he said, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
Growing dissatisfaction
According to a November poll released on Dec. 15 by the Moscow-based Public Opinion Foundation, thirty-nine percent of Russians have a growing dissatisfaction with the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In some regions, the level of public discontent is more than 50 percent, it said.
"The worse the crisis gets, the more dissatisfaction will grow, especially with regional authorities," Lyudmila Presnyakova, the poll’s organizer, told Bloomberg. "As unemployment rises, so will the potential for mass unrest."
An advisor to President Dmitry Medvedev, meanwhile, said yesterday that Russia would run a budget deficit in 2009 for the first time in years.
"Yes, there undoubtedly will be," Arkady Dvorkovich said when asked whether Russia would have a deficit next year, according to RIA Novosti.
"The deficit is caused by the fall in oil prices, above all," he said, adding that the government would tap into its reserves accumulated from years of high oil prices in order to cover the gap.
He also held out the possibility that Russia could seek external loans to overcome the fallout from the global financial crisis.
"If necessary, we will do this," Dvorkovich was quoted as saying by news agencies, although he added that Russia would not turn to the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, as it did in the 1990s.