ABSTRACT
The Russian government has pursued a prudent financial policy, keeping firm control of expenditures, and Vladimir Putin appears to be focused on making sure that his successor continues in this vein. The Russian president's pride in these achievements and confidence in his country's economic stature is such that he has even put forth an ambitious proposal to recast the global financial system in accordance with the new realities. Putin's declaration in St Petersburg was also another indication of how different Russian foreign policy and its motivations have turned out to be from what was expected of Russia when it emerged from the Soviet Union. The Russian economic revival is certainly not only due to the worldwide increase in oil and gas prices and the resulting growth in oil and gas exports. Since the crisis of 1998, Russia has experienced growth in a number of export-oriented and domestic industries, in particular in mineral extraction and processing, retail, construction and food processing.
