Tough Economic Times Return To Russia

A man reads a newspaper under signs with currency exchange rates in Moscow. Credit: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov

DW: Return of Russia's economic rollercoaster

As Russia begins the New Year, two recent events - an inability to pay salaries and a new law on currency exchanges - show the country is hurtling rapidly back to the future. Fiona Clark sees troubled times ahead.

On Christmas Eve we couldn't get a taxi using any of the usual apps, so we decided to hitch home after dinner. That's not such an unusual practice in Russia, in fact since Soviet times it's been an accepted way for people to subsidize their incomes by picking up strangers and charging them a small fee to drop them wherever they want. Foreigners call them "gypsy cabs."

The man who picked us up was very pleased to finally get a fare. "You're the first people to put your hands out for ages. No one puts their hands out anymore," he said, lamenting the effect of the taxi apps that are killing the ordinary man's revenue supply. "I used to make 5,000 rubles (62 euros; $68) a night doing this, now I'm lucky if I make 2,000 a week." Then he went on to explain why he needed the money.

WNU Editor: Its starting. While everyone that I know in Russia is still receiving their salaries and pensions .... the stories are starting to come in from the regions outside of the major cities that cut-backs and delays in paying salaries are now becoming a fact of life. Russian social media is also abuzz with these reports .... and dissatisfaction is growing. As I had mentioned a few weeks ago .... Putin and his government have only this year to fix Russia's economy .... if not .... protests and strikes are going to became a way of life throughout much of the country.