Word: russians
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Under the white walls and blue-and-gold cupolas of the Sergiyev Posad monastery, the row of vendors selling nesting dolls and other traditional Russian handicrafts is noticeably shorter this summer. Usually the cheap folding tables, set up in a double row outside the spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church, are surrounded by tourists snapping up the iconic egg-shaped souvenirs, made of smaller and smaller wooden dolls hidden one within the other. But on a recent Thursday afternoon, there were only about a dozen people looking to buy. At one table, Olga Isakova waited on her first customers...
...financial crisis continues to take its toll and travelers decide to stay closer to home this summer, Russia's small local industries suddenly find themselves struggling. Now the government is stepping in to try to keep Russia's artisanal traditions alive. Earlier this year the Russian government announced that it would buy $28.4 million worth of nesting dolls (called matryoshka in Russian), lacquered dishes, crocheted shawls, felt caps and other quintessentially Russian knickknacks to bolster the industry and try to protect the livelihoods of some 30,000 workers at around 240 companies. (See pictures of Russia celebrating Victory...
...registered companies in the period between January and May fell 19% compared with the same period last year, dropping from $35.2 million worth of goods to $28.5 million, according to the Federal State Statistics Service. Meanwhile, the number of tourists, who make up the bulk of buyers of Russian handicrafts, has dipped drastically, with 25% fewer visitors arriving in the first quarter of 2009 than in the same period in 2008. (See pictures of the global financial crisis...
...that because of lax legislation, around 60% to 70% of Ukraine's gambling establishments were operating illegally. Pysarenko estimates that the industry is worth about $5 billion per year, only 2% of which made it to the state budget as operators avoided paying taxes. (Watch a video about a Russian roadtrip...
...Russia Planning for A Post-U.S. World Russian President Dmitri Medvedev hosted the first summit of the world's largest emerging economies to discuss efforts to reduce their reliance on the U.S. The so-called BRIC states--Brazil, Russia, India and China--are forecast to become four of the six biggest economies in the world by 2050. The group, which holds some 40% of the world's gold and hard-currency reserves, has announced plans to shift some out of U.S. dollars. "There can be no successful global currency system," said Medvedev, "if the financial instruments used are denominated...