"Progress on Russia’s abysmal roads stalls; Transportation funding ensnared by local corruption" by Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times | July 19, 2009
VASILEVO, Russia - Over the past decade, as Vladimir Putin presided over an oil-rich, newly assertive nation, outside observers marveled at Russia’s resurgence. But daily life inside the would-be superpower is still strained by mundane, fundamental failures.
As anybody who has tried to explore the country by car can testify, Russia’s abysmal road infrastructure is perhaps the most pointed reminder of all the things left undone during long years of economic boom. Outside the major cities, the roads are harrowing - narrow and perilously pitted with potholes; groaning with cargo trucks; edges dropping off abruptly onto earth without a shoulder.
Welcome to Anytown, U.S.A.!
Even fresh pavement often ripples in waves, which are often coated with winter ice, sending tires skidding. And in many parts of Russia, the roads are unpaved. Although spending on infrastructure has tripled over the past few years, drivers agree that the cash has failed to trickle down meaningfully to the roadways, partly because it became snared in local corruption.
See: The Big Pit
And now, with the GDP shrinking and the International Monetary Fund predicting zero economic growth in 2010, there is a growing fear that Russia might have squandered its best chance to reinvent itself. It’s true - the Russian government has been forced to shave its budget, reallocating money and dipping into the emergency funds set aside during times of plenty. Funding for transportation infrastructure already has been cut by nearly a third.
In recent years, as oil and natural gas prices swelled, many in the nation seemed to think that Russia would keep getting richer. Smart people in Moscow would talk about a tumble in the cost of oil and gas dismissively - about what effect it might have if it happened, which of course it wouldn’t, at least any time soon.
The Russians are SOOOOOOO AmeriKan, aren't they?
And so there was a sense, critics say, that there was no rush. The money was pouring in, and tomorrow would take care of itself. Roads stayed unpaved or nonexistent. The much-discussed modernization of the military was barely begun, let alone completed.
Then no war with 'em, right?
Even infrastructure related to oil and gas was so badly neglected that Russia is now finding itself grappling with declining production. But the inaction has come at a cost: Shoddy roads are robbing Russia of about 3 percent of its GDP a year, according to government estimates.
I wonder what they are costing us here.
