Olivier from Putin

During the eight years of the president's rule, setting the New Year's table has at least doubled in price.

It is in Western democracies that people vote with their minds, but in Eastern despotisms - with their hearts. Russians sympathize with their president with their wallets, since every day television assures everyone that life under Putin has become, if not more fun, then at least better - financially.
However, banal everyday arithmetic suggests that products have risen in price “slightly” since Putin’s accession to the presidential throne. When Vladimir Vladimirovich congratulated the Russians for the first time on December 31, 1999, on our tables there was all sorts of food worth 700 rubles for three people.
A bottle of champagne from that proto-Putin era cost some 35 rubles, half a liter of vodka – 30, “zero seven” wine – 35. Sellers asked 20 rubles for a kilo of exotic winter fruits, about 50 more for a gift box of chocolates, and 70 for a kilo of good cheese. Under early Putin, a chicken “weighed” 55 wooden (the same as fish), but meat was more expensive - 80 rubles.
Now we have a new life. And new prices.
Cheap champagne costs about 70 re, “white” wine has more than doubled in price, and wine has tripled in price. You will now have to pay an average of 30 to 60 rubles for fruit, at least a hundred for candy and 250 rubles per kilogram of cheese. In eight years, prices for meat, fish and poultry have doubled. In general, a modest New Year's table will now cost about two thousand.
In general, under Putin, the food basket has risen exactly three times in price - from 550 to 1,650 rubles.
But besides food, everything else has become more expensive: goods, services, tariffs. In 1999, travel on the metro was four times cheaper, going to the movies was half as expensive, and branded jeans were three times cheaper.
However, over the past time, wages have also increased. If in 1999 Russians raked in an average of 1,717 rubles per month, then in 2007 – already 12,804. If under the early Putin the pension was 300 re, then under the late Putin they receive the same amount only as a meager pre-holiday bonus. In eight years, the family budget has become seven and a half times fuller! So even the current increase in price of the New Year's banquet by two or three times is not a burden for him.
Of course, the Kremlin has its own – well-known – secret to the financial success of its fellow citizens. When former Prime Minister Putin publicly made his first New Year's toast in his new capacity, a barrel of oil cost less than $25. And when future Prime Minister Putin makes a toast, his last in the old capacity, the price of a barrel will reach almost a hundred bucks.
However, for ordinary Russians this is not the main thing. They see the results of Putin's rule on their New Year's table and in their own wallets. Life has really gotten better. And with partially amnestied Moldovan wine it’s even more fun.
And it doesn’t matter at whose expense. We don’t ask where Santa Claus gets the gifts in his bag.

chipaaaaaaaa 2007

This year, the main feature of the Russian economy had an openly “blue” color – in the good sense of the word. Securities of gas and oil companies (and, accordingly, the fortunes of their owners) set one record of profitability after another. At the same time, the shares of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom Dmitry Medvedev, who is promised to be paid good political dividends in March, have risen in price more than others.
The blue chips still have growth potential. After all, the price of oil has reached almost a hundred bucks per barrel, and gas tariffs will skyrocket by a quarter in a few days. However, experts advise not to fanatically invest in shares of oil and gas companies.
As soon as Medvedev finally moves from Gazprom to the main Kremlin den, the positions of the OJSC, according to economists, may go into hibernation. The previous successes of oil corporations are also under threat. Therefore, analysts advise taking a closer look at another non-traditional, but still undervalued area of ​​the economy - nanotechnology. I wish I could understand what they are eaten with...