#1
BBC
28 December 2002
Country profile: Russia

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has been striving to overcome the legacy of Communism. Creating a democratic political system and a market economy to replace the bureaucracy and centralism of the past has proved an elusive goal.

OVERVIEW

Russia has a rich literary tradition stretching from Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoyevskiy in Tsarist times to Solzhenitsyn in the Soviet era. Composers from Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov to Prokofyev and Shostakovich have left a lasting musical legacy.

The country impresses with its diversity and size. Spanning 10 time zones, this Eurasian land mass covers over 17m sq kms. Its climate ranges from the Arctic north to the generally temperate south.

After nearly 10 years of crisis, peaking in August 1998 with the devaluation of the rouble, the Russian economy bounced back more quickly than many expected. However, it is heavily dependent on world oil prices.

While Russians make up over 80% of the population and Orthodox Christianity is the main religion, there are many other ethnic and religious groups. Muslims are concentrated among the Volga Tatars and the Bashkirs and in the North Caucasus.

Chechnya remains a major problem for Moscow. Many thousands have died since Russian troops were first sent in to put down a separatist rebellion in 1994 and guerrilla fighters continue to mount attacks. However, the Kremlin has faced less criticism from the West over its actions in Chechnya in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks on the USA.

Russia's supportive policy on the US-led campaign against international terrorism has also had an impact on the country's relations with Nato. The two sides agreed in May 2002 to establish the Nato-Russia Council giving Russia an equal role with Nato countries in decision making on policy to counter terrorism and other security threats.

However, as illustrated by differences of emphasis on how to handle Iraq a year on from 11 September, the conflict between Russia's pursuit of an independent path and its need to build a new relationship with the USA and the rest of the world continues to be played out.

FACTS

RUSSIA FACTS

Population: 148 million
Capital: Moscow
Major language: Russian
Major religions: Christianity, Islam
Life expectancy: 58 years (men), 72 years (women)
Monetary unit: 1 rouble = 100 kopecks
Main exports: Oil and oil products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, weapons and military equipment
Average annual income: US $1,660
Internet domain: .ru
International dialling code: +7

LEADERS

President: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

Putin: named by Yeltsin as his trusted successor

Putin started his career in the ranks of the KGB. From 1990 he worked in the St Petersburg administration, before moving to Moscow in 1996. By August 1999 he was prime minister.

Putin was named acting president by his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, who resigned on the last day of 1999.

Yeltsin introduced him as the man who could "unite around himself those who will revive Great Russia".

Putin subsequently won elections and took office as president in his own right in May 2000.

He has said he wants to modernise Russia and has been credited with introducing economic reforms which have balanced the budget and cut inflation. He also won thanks from the USA for his swift supportive response to the 11 September attacks.

Concerns about Putin's attitude to freedom of speech were reinforced when independent TV broadcasters critical of the Kremlin were forced off the air in the first two years of his presidency. Not everyone is convinced by the president's insistence that this was business, not politics.

Prime minister: Mikhail Kasyanov
Foreign minister: Igor Ivanov
Interior minister: Boris Gryzlov
Defence minister: Sergei Ivanov
Finance minister: Alexei Kudrin

MEDIA

The Russian media are generally either state-owned, or controlled by large economic groups or "oligarchs", big businessmen with diverse political connections.

The Kremlin has tried to secure greater control over the country's main nationwide TV networks - Channel One, RTR and NTV - to curb independent reporting and use them to advance its own agenda.

Bringing court cases against the country's two main "oligarchs", Boris Berezovskiy and Vladimir Gusinskiy, and acting through the industrial groups Gazprom and Lukoil, the Kremlin wrested control of ORT (the forerunner of Channel One), NTV and TV-6 from the two men. As a result, media freedom in Russia suffered a setback in 2000 and 2001.

The Moskovskiy Komsomolets daily wrote in December 2001 that "Russian TV channels have become too similar, with all of them broadcasting the same news about the achievements of Russia under the stewardship of President Vladimir Putin". To correct the situation, the newspaper added, each national channel will be assigned a specialisation.

The government owns two leading news agencies. In television, flagship station Channel One is 51% owned by the state.

The war in Chechnya is blamed for government attacks against press freedom. Journalists have been killed in Chechnya while others have disappeared or were abducted. In Moscow and elsewhere, journalists have been harassed or physically abused.

The Glasnost Defence Fund reported in February 2001 that 16 journalists had been killed in Russia in 2000 in the course of their work. It said that 26 journalists had been prosecuted and 11 illegally sacked.

The press

Rossiyskaya Gazeta - official government newspaper

Nezavisimaya Gazeta - influential independent daily

Sovetskaya Rossiya - pro-Communist daily

Argumentiy i Faktiy - popular weekly

Izvestia - leading daily controlled by tycoon Vladimir Potanin

Kommersant - liberal, business-orientated, controlled by tycoon Boris Berezovsky

Moskovskiy Komsomolets - popular daily controlled by Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov

Komsomolskaya Pravda - mass circulation, outspoken daily, controlled by tycoon Vladimir Potanin

Krasnaya Zvezda - Defence Ministry newspaper The Moscow Times

Television

Russia TV Channel - run by the state-owned Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR)

Channel One - flagship TV channel, 51% owned by state, 49% by private shareholders

NTV - main rival to ORT

TV-6 - Moscow. Ordered off the air.

Radio

Radio Russia - run by the state-owned Russian State Television and Radio

Broadcasting Company (RTR)

Moscow Echo - influential independent station

Radio Mayak - broadcasts throughout the Russian Federation Voice of Russia

News agencies

Itar-Tass - state-owned

RIA-Novosti - state-owned; multilingual

Interfax - independent

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