Quote from: Vishnu.Reang on Today at 04:47:38 PM

Quote from: zasad@ on Today at 03:30:52 PM

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I do not dissuade anyone from vaccinations, but I know how statistics are drawn in my country.
Most people in Russia die not because of epidemics, but because of poverty. They have no money for treatment.

I have friends from Russia, and they have told me about this. It is really sad. People dying because of poverty, despite the fact that Russia is the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. And it's not just the oil and gas. Until the disintegration of the USSR, they were the world leaders in space and medical technology. The universities and medical schools were among the best in the world. Here in India, a lot of people have fond memories of the USSR. Some of our best doctors and engineers were educated in the Soviet universities.

During 2009-14, the crude oil price was above $100 per barrel and Russia was producing anywhere from 10 million to 11 million barrels per day. That is $1 billion worth of crude oil per day!!! Works out to $365 billion per year. Where did all these money went? On top of that Gazprom exports around 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year to Europe, and during 2009-14, the prices averaged $400 per thousand cubic meter. On top of that, they were the top producers of several other commodities including coal, steel, nickel, aluminum, gold.etc.

Even if we take the average revenue per year at $500 billion, it works out to around $12,500 per family per year. The average salary here in India is around 8% of that amount.

Oil and gas revenues from 2004 to 2014 were spent on insane consumption. This was the period when Russians fell in love with luxury and glamor.

1990-2000 was a decade of poverty and banditry. So when that decade ended, all Russians began to make up for lost time. The oligarchs built skyscrapers, bought huge yachts and spent money on elite prostitutes. Many of them have acquired harems of young and beautiful girls. The middle class also improved their living conditions, did expensive apartment renovations, traveled to Europe and exotic countries, and dined in restaurants.

The period from 2004 to 2014 was perhaps the best decade in Russian history.

However, these relatively good times are over.