"Russia is not a civilized world": the expert told whether the aggressor country can return to the "90s" and what will happen to its economy

The economy of the aggressor country, the Russian Federation, is currently overheated: the price of labor has become extremely high due to government money, the cost of goods is also rising, and the Central Bank is raising the discount rate. However, this does not mean that there will be any significant changes and the Russian economy will stop.

This was stated by economist Oleh Pendzyn in a commentary to OBOZ.UA. According to him, now it is impossible to say that the Russian economy can return to its "90s" because what is happening to it now is more like the last ten years of the Soviet Union.

Russia is now clearly forming a list of commodities that are already becoming scarce in some regions of the Russian Federation, especially in remote areas. The constant rise in food prices is clearly leading to the impoverishment of the bulk of the population.

"There is no one to buy at a higher price. But there is a problem if those buyers, those recipients of loans are in agriculture, in the production of consumer goods, what do they do? They produce less consumer goods. If there is less food, then there is a shortage, and if there is a shortage, and the state sits and controls the prices of consumer goods, then a picture emerges of the end of the last decade of the Soviet Union when everyone received a salary, and in order to exchange it, you had to stand in a huge line," the expert explained.

The problem for Russians is that the Russian authorities do not care about any of this.

It is also worth noting that Western experts believe that overheating of the Russian economy could lead to its imminent collapse. However, they live in the paradigm of the civilized world, where the main criterion for any government is the growth of citizens' incomes. And if the political force that was in power made people poorer, they vote for another political force in the next parliamentary elections.

"It doesn't work that way in Russia. There are no democratic elections in Russia. There is no opposition in Russia. In Russia, the overheating of the economy, which leads to the impoverishment of the Russian population, does not lead to a change of political power. Moreover, the criterion that the state is doing well if its citizens are doing well does not work in Russia. People will live poorly in Russia, people will live badly in Russia, and they are living poorly now. And the state will still spend money on the military-industrial complex. It has different goals and a different vision. So when we talk about the economy overheating, it is true. Inflation is true. The impoverishment of Russians is true. But this in no way means that the Russian authorities will change their policy towards the war. They have other goals, they have a different vision of the world," Pendzyn said.

He emphasized that Russia is not part of the civilized world, so they will go for further impoverishment of the population to continue the war.

"The budget is not rubber. If in '23 the Russians spent $65 billion from the budget on the war, this year they spent $105 billion, and next year they plan to spend $13.5 trillion, that's $135 billion. How do you think they redistribute this money in the budget? They don't earn that much more, do they? So who are they plucking? From whom are they taking this money? From social programs, from the disabled, and from the construction of schools and hospitals. Do you think this makes the population worse off? Of course, it does. Do you think the Russian authorities care about this? No, not at all. Have you seen any social unrest in the Russian Federation due to rising prices and falling incomes? Absolutely not," the economist emphasized.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, food prices in Russia may rise by another 8-20% in 2025 due to general inflation, rising transportation costs, and the high key policy rate of the Central Bank. This will especially affect imported products, seasonal fruits, and vegetables.

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