Since 2014, the Russian economy has been in recession caused primarily by the drop in oil prices and sanctions imposed by the western countries. In 2017, after two years of the negative growth, Russia’s GDP and industry production in-creased by 1.5% and 1.0%, respectively, while the inflation rate decreased to 2.5%. The Russian government wishfully perceives these figures as a sign that the economic downturn is ending.
Kanat Makhanov is a research fellow at the Eurasian Institute of the International H.A Yassawi Kazakh-Turkish University. He holds a BA in Business Economics from the KIMEP University from 2012. In 2014 he earned his Masters degree in Economics from the University of Vigo (Spain), completing his thesis on “Industrial Specialization in autonomous regions of Spain and Kazakhstan”. His main research interests are Spatial Economics, Economic Geography, Regional Economics, Human and Economic Geography.