Thread: Думские выборы 2011

In result almost all former soviet plants and factories turned into warehouses now (where real estate costs something) or look very much like Chernobyl area

Maybe that's because soviet manufacturing was shit in general?
And it could not compete with much more superior products from the west.
In Latvia you can see VAZ about as frequently as you can see Maserati, Ferrari or Lamborghini.
No one is buying these Soviet/Russian made shit.

By the way - why you are even bothering with these elections?
Everyone in the West already know that czar Putin's boyars "United Russia" will get majority and czar himself will be coronated next year to rule for another 12 years and maybe even more.
And that's sad - it means that cold war against Baltic states will continue.

Originally Posted by nulle

Maybe that's because soviet manufacturing was shit in general?
And it could not compete with much more superior products from the west.

Well, you see the way the import and export works is a bit more complex. For example, Latvia might not produce any competitive cars, but it could export food. That is called the "comparative advantage" and serves as a foundation for the world trade. The same thing applies to Russia. It used to export things like steel which were very competitive on the market (and some of it could still be competitive). Economically, it makes much more sense to place the processing factories close to the raw material mines and export (=transport) the processed raw materials. And "processed" does not necessarily mean "assembled". The assembled parts might perhaps be more competitive in China. And so on. So, it might be more beneficial (=more economically profitable) for everybody that Russia would export the refined gasoline and not the raw oil because the price for the end user of the gasoline in Europe would ultimately be cheaper. But, at the present, as Ramil indicated, the options are very much limited. The oligarchy prefers to export raw materials and wouldn't care about the long-term economic benefits, because they seem to be more interested in the immediate capital and so they do not want to invest and take risks on the long run.

Originally Posted by nulle

And that's sad - it means that cold war against Baltic states will continue.

Would you be able to elaborate on that? I mean, I realize the Baltic states have historically earned a great deal of fear. Perhaps, they have their right to be anxious. I'm not sure if that could qualify for the "cold war" though.

Originally Posted by nulle

Maybe that's because soviet manufacturing was shit in general?
And it could not compete with much more superior products from the west.
In Latvia you can see VAZ about as frequently as you can see Maserati, Ferrari or Lamborghini.
No one is buying these Soviet/Russian made shit.

Well, everyone is better at smth and worse at smth. Cars is not one of our strongest sides, but still, rocketry and weapons IS our national trade. Quite hi-tech, don't you think. Oh, have your own country managed to create something worth mentioning during its years of independence?

Originally Posted by nulle

And that's sad - it means that cold war against Baltic states will continue.

Oh that. An imaginary war against countries with imaginary weight in the world. No, I don't think so. This war exists in your mind only, I'm afraid. I love your "Шпроты", by the way.