Audi 2006 Annual Report Download - page 29

Shoppers crave everything that is
international and expensive.
One of the few vestiges of Old Russia
is the Matryoshka doll.
Moscow
is a modern
metropolis
undergoing
rapid change
A city of millionaires
but also of a burgeoning
middle class, Moscow
has long since become a
modern, cosmopolitan
city. The consumer boom
is reflected in the extra-
ordinary revenues of
Western companies in
Russia’s capital city.
Daniel Brössler has been Süddeutsche
Zeitung’s Moscow correspondent since 2004.
He has been reporting on the transformation
of Central and Eastern Europe since the
beginning of the 1990s.
ECONOMY: RUSSIA – THE METAMORPHOSIS OF A MARKET
PHOTOS: AUDI, (FAR RIGHT): MICHAEL LUKJANOV/DREAMSTIME
27AUDI 2006 ANNUAL REPORT
blondes, their suitcases bursting with cash,
ready to buy up luxury apartments and the occa-
sional football club. Yet the Russians are by no
means in this business just for fun. Russian in-
vestors have already acquired a substantial stake
in a German fashion company, shares in a car
manufacturer and even an entire chain of filling
stations. Not all their purchases are as spectacu-
lar as the acquisition of as much as seven percent
of the European aviation and space company
EADS by the Russian Vneshtorgbank (VTB). But
the fact remains: Russia is on the advance.
Growth consistently above six percent
Russian economic growth has consistently been
above six percent in recent years, the Finance
Minister has the enviable dilemma of what to do
with his substantial budget surpluses, and ex-
ports are booming. Nevertheless, the structure
of exports in specific reveals the difference be-
tween Russia’s minor economic miracle and the
major economic miracle that has taken place
in China. 63 percent of Russia’s entire export
revenue is from the sale of raw materials. The
World Bank estimates that this source accounts
for around one-quarter of Russia’s gross domes-
tic product. In contrast to China, manufacturers
of high-tech products and consumer goods
make up only a small portion of the economy.
The result is extreme dependence on the export-
ing of resources. Although the high price of oil
has put huge amounts of money into Russian
pockets in recent years, a fall in prices could
conversely have disastrous consequences for
the nation’s economy. Precisely that is why the
Russians are so keen to invest in Western com-
panies. Their hope is that the latter can help to
modernise domestic industry.
In reality, the West is not one-sidedly dependent
on Russian oil and gas. Russia and Western Eu-
rope are actually dependent on each other.