Russian News

For the past week I've been wanting to blog about a few stories that we've seen in the news - we picked up an English newspaper on our way home from Athens last weekend, and there have been some interesting stories on the English news channels Russia Today. Prior to our trip here, I really knew nothing about what life was like in Russia - only a couple of typical stereotypes came to mind: it's cold, people drink a lot of vodka... and ??? I knew that the economy had recovered (somewhat) and that life had improved for the average Russian... but had no context in which to place the news, and no numbers. So here are some numbers... I looked for this graphic online but couldn't find it, so I took a photo of the newspaper.


I'm not sure how clear this picture is but 1992's average monthly wage was $22! The average monthly wage increased to $303 in 2005, $395 in 2006 and $575 in 2007. I asked Dasha about last year's all time (low) high wages, and wondered (aloud) how people afford to buy things... and do stuff! (Remember an hour of skating cost $20, and a meal at a mid-class restaurant costs no less than $70 for the two of us... and that's sans alcohol) Dasha didn't have an answer... but said that many of the smaller towns are still very, very poor... I'm just guessing that only the rich can afford to skate, swim and eat out, big city or small.

The news here has been inundated with talk of NATO expansion and with both Russia's objections and America's enthusiasm for the entry of Georgia and the Ukraine into the organization. Since that summit has ended, there have been further stories regarding relations between the two countries, as Putin and Bush have apparently spent the weekend at Putin's summer home in the resort town of Sochi. The two talked about their not seeing eye to eye on America's missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland, and on Russia's objections to the entry of Georgia and the Ukraine into NATO... and Bush's rhetoric just makes me see red: "One areas where we've agreed to work together its the missile defense system. We've got more work to do to convince the Russian side that the system is not aimed at Russia." Yes, he said areas, and yes, he said "convince". This language does not exude the attitude of mutual cooperation that both parties are meant to be extolling. And, he just sounds like the biggest blockhead - I assume that this is not news to anyone.

Another piece o' news - at first I thought this was a joke, but apparently, the Moscow City Council has plans to import natural spring water from the French Alps... to every Moscow resident. This includes a two week hiatus of water supply... hot or cold, from Moscow to France. Question - who is paying for this? And... are you kidding?! There was no mention of how much this crazy venture might cost, but, in response to the objections of French citizens ("But why should millions of Europeans have to go without water for two weeks - in the summer?"), a Moscow city spokeswoman suggested that the French were jealous - "Not all French have natural spring water from the French Alps pouring out of their taps." Right.

Okay, one more thing. I had no idea that Russia has one of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the world, and the largest in Europe; the registered number of cases is 300,000, and the estimated number is between 1 and 3 million. This accounts for two-thirds of all HIV cases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. People that have been diagnosed suffer huge discrimination (as everywhere else) but a story that Russia Today ran this week talked about repercussions on family members and friends of individuals diagnosed with the disease; many were fired and some told that they must undergo an HIV test, only because he/she was related (brother, sister, cousin) to the affected person. We haven't seen any ads or information anywhere about this apparent problem - according to several different sources, people still think that this is a disease of drug users and prostitutes. I suppose this is the problem. While we had to take HIV tests to get into the country (visa requirement), most Russians will never even think about taking a test; unfortunately this disease might be a lot closer to home than they think.