- Russia begins oil production decrease听
Russia as one of world鈥檚 largest oil producers announced last week that it has started reducing its oil production in line with the OPEC agreement.
According to the agreement, Russia is to decrease its oil production by 300,000 barrels per day, until the end of the first half of 2017.
While no details were given as to the decreased production amount, it was reported that Russian oil companies 鈥渧oluntarily鈥� cut their production.
Kremlin Spokesman Dimitry Peskov stated that Russia was fulfilling its part of the OPEC agreement.
We can expect Russia to continue its positive statements regarding oil markets to push oil prices higher which is crucial for the country鈥檚 balancing of its budget.
Meanwhile, according to Russian Federal Customs Services (FTS), Russia鈥檚 oil revenues in the January-November period last year, dropped by 20 percent to $66.3 billion, compared to the same period of 2015.
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- Nearly half of all Russians struggle to make ends meet
The Russian economy has been struggling over the last two years, and among the biggest problems in the country is the drop in the purchasing power of its citizens.
One of Russia鈥檚 most distinguished institutions, the Moscow-based Higher School of Economics, has conducted research that highlighted this problem.
According to the research 鈥淩ussian People in 2016,鈥� nearly half of the Russian population (41 percent) is struggling to purchase basic food and clothing needs.
The real income of Russian citizens has dropped by 12.7 percent since October 2014. However, the research also showed that only 17 percent of Russians consider their financial status as 鈥渧ery bad.鈥� Experts explain this issue by asserting that 鈥渂ad living conditions鈥� are normal for Russian people.听