photo Fotodom/Rex Features Robot cars, ready to respond to a call in a few minutes, can completely change the attitude towards the car Many have seen posters hanging around Moscow: “We have returned Crimea, we will return Moscow without traffic jams.” But traffic jams - at first, though not in Moscow - will be destroyed in a completely different way than they took Crimea. Not by force, not forcefully and without the help of green tow trucks.

The other day, I had the honor to interview Leonid Davidovich Bershid, finalist of the Polit -Posvet Prize. We met, as is customary in decent people, in the evening, which means - in a cafe, where, of course, it turned out to be too noisy for recording. But we drank a bottle of excellent wine, biting cheese, crushed before the conversation and in search of silence and rest wandered to the sports ground of a nearby school, where L. Bershidsky at the same time tried to practice rocking.

photo by RIA Novosti Apparently, Gazprom has concluded a good agreement, but it will not free Russia from the need to negotiate with European gas consumers Did Vladimir Putin benefit from signing the notorious 30-year gas supply contract with China? Absolutely: he demonstrated to Western leaders that he still has strong allies. But did Russia win? This question is somewhat more complicated and requires some calculations. Let's start with the main thing - the price.

photo by Diomedia Despite its isolation, China remains attractive to investors. The Russian market is too small to develop along this path They promise that on May 20-21, Vladimir Putin will agree with Xi Jinping on the price of gas, which Russia will supply to China for 30 years - as soon as it builds a gas pipeline from Yakutia, it will immediately begin.

Photo by PhotoXPress The desire to see the pernicious influence of the West everywhere prevents the head of state from checking the facts Vladimir Putin cannot be called an ignorant person. He has a tenacious memory, he listens well and easily remembers what he hears. But in today's Russia, he has to personally participate in decision-making, which in few countries reaches the presidential level. Manual control, that sort of thing.

Photo by Diomedia The example of the Chinese Weibo network shows how government pressure leads to decreased user interest and investor losses. The intention of the Russian authorities to increase pressure on popular bloggers by equating their blogs with the media is dangerous for the business of social networks.

photo ITAR-TASS In conditions of cooling relations with the West, it is especially important for Russia to enter the Chinese gas market. Beijing understands this well. Even having seemingly won his small victorious war for Crimea, Vladimir Putin does not yet look like a winner: the economic and diplomatic cost of Russia’s expansion seems prohibitively high. Among other things, the West may try to put pressure on Putin by finding ways to reduce the supply of Russian energy resources.

photo Corbis Judging by the actions of the main presidential candidates, the system of power that has developed in the country over the years of independence will fundamentally remain the same The phrase of the hapless Soviet Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov, “We wanted the best, but it turned out as always” (later quoted by Viktor Chernomyrdin), seems to be said about Ukraine after all.

Photo by PhotoXpress The experience of South Africa shows that even strict international isolation does not stop the development of society What, exactly, would be terrible if the West curtailed most of its economic ties with Russia? Well, members of the government will not have iPads, but will have Samsungs .

photo Reuters Markets have “recognized” Crimea as part of Russia and are not expecting serious Western sanctions. But traders seem to believe too much in the power of the mind We are now much closer to universal Ukrainian-Russian happiness than it might seem. We just need to clarify that we are talking about happiness in an exclusively market sense of the word. Russian stocks have been growing well all this week, here is a chart of the RTS index.

photo Lori The plan to get rid of uncensored media is easy to implement. But it's worth thinking about the consequences Independent media, as we have often been reminded in recent years, does not exist. But there are uncensored ones. Now they are like dented tins in a primitive shooting range under the gun of an experienced shooter. Minus "Kommersant". Minus "Gazeta.ru". Minus "Rain". Minus "Tape". “This is not forever,” we repeat when another can falls.

Photo by Diomedia The main costs for Russia will not be associated with US and EU sanctions, but with the costs of supporting the new subsidized region The desire of deputies or even residents of a certain region to join Russia does not mean that this will happen.

What can Forbes list members actually do? We are accustomed to thinking that in Ukraine the word “oligarch” still retains the meaning lost in Russia with the imprisonment of Khodorkovsky in 2003: a businessman who promotes his people into politics, a puppeteer of politicians and officials. This is a forgivable misconception: Ukrainians themselves talk about “oligarchs”.

photo Reuters Modern economics no longer considers the fight against inequality an absolute evil. How can today's Ukraine apply this knowledge in practice? In connection with the Ukrainian revolution, the question arises, if not bluntly: why don’t local oligarchs contribute money to the revival of a country that has no money at all and is facing default? Here is a budget deficit of 8% of GDP, and here are 10 billionaires whose total wealth is 18% of GDP.

photo Kommersant The course of events in Ukraine has shown that big business there is far from being as powerful as it was thought The column will appear in the March issue of Forbes magazine, which goes on sale February 27. We are accustomed to thinking that in Ukraine the word “oligarch” still retains the meaning lost in Russia with the imprisonment of Khodorkovsky in 2003: a businessman who promotes his people into politics, a puppeteer of politicians and officials.