Unit 13. Russia in the World Economy

1. Read the extract from the article from the BBC News Online and complete the extract with the expressions listed.

to some              extent              former              economic              growth

small              export              revenues              renowned              out of reach

controls              adopted              prospects              governance

investorsexperiencing

Russian Guru Upbeat on Economy

There is no wonder that Russia’s officials and bankers are upbeat on ...

1. for the country’s economy.

Russia is in many ways ... (2) its best post-communist years.

... (3) is being fuelled by high oil and gas prices, political stability, devalued currency, and structural reforms ... (4) in the last two years.

Even Boris Fedorov, Russia’s ... (5) finance and tax minister, who is also a non-executive director of Gazprom and a... (6) skeptic, said things, while far from perfect, are getting better.

The fortunes of Gazprom, the world’s largest gas production company, are ... (7) an acid test for those of the country’s economy itself.

More than one fifth of Russia’s ... (8) come from gas.

The government... (9) 38 % of Gazprom, but until recently was unable to force the company to pay taxes.

... (10) were all-but neglected and mismanagement of the company was shocking even by Russian standards.

Under the old management, millions of dollars went missing and the ...

11. was widely seen as lax.

“The company was... (12) of the law, which is not the case now,” Mr. Fedorov told BBC News Online.

2. After filling in the gaps read the extract once more and decide which of the statements are True and which are False and write T for True and F for False.

1. Russia’s officials are very pessimistic on the prospects for the country’s economy.
2. Russia is returning to its best communist years.
3. High oil and gas prices are one of the reasons for economic growth.
4. Boris Fedorov said that things are almost perfect.
5. The main Russian export product is gas.

3. Give Russian equivalents and make up your own sentences:

• inspection team;
• “comprehensive health check-up”;
• rampant money laundering;
• handle economic shocks;
• plunge into chaos.

4. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. He has headed efforts by a new team to clean up Gazprom’s murky books and banish remnants of the old management that were “milking the company.”
2. He urged the company to get rid of non-gas businesses accumulated in the past.
3. Mr. Fedorov proposed that Gazprom should sell-off its media assets and avoid the involvement in politics which characterized its past.
4. Certainly some foreign investors have accused PricewaterhouseCo- opers of hiding Gazprom’s financial wrongdoings in attempt to keep the contract.
5. Indeed, Russia is not longer an “insider’s market,” he said, comparing today’s country to that of the days when the government would sell

off profitable state enterprises for a fraction of their value, in return for financial support in presidential elections.

5. Render the extract from the article using the active vocabulary.

В завершившемся году темпы роста на российском фондовом рынке оказались самыми высокими в мире. За год индекс РТС вырос на 60 %. Экономический рост превысил 5 %. Вчера, реагируя на оптимизм на рынке, “Standard and Poor’s” повысил долгосрочный местный и внешний валютный кредитные рейтинги с В до В+ и пересмотрел прогноз со стабильного до позитивного. Новые рейтинги по-прежнему указывают инвесторам на то, что российские долги высокорискованны и спекулятивны, но они отражают общее ощущение — в России началось новое время.

Однако президент Владимир Путин был прав, выказав сдержанность в своем новогоднем обращении. Он сказал, что темпы экономического роста были хорошими, но теперь задача состоит в том, чтобы повысить уровень жизни россиян, которые в своем большинстве весьма бедны. Макроэкономическая ситуация успешно стабилизирована, Россия, переходя от плановой экономики к рыночной, переживает фазу структурных реформ. А это, как показывает опыт Азии и Латинской Америки, — сложный этап.