By Vestnik Kavkaza
Russia will remember 2014 not only for the accession of Crimea and the Sochi Olympic Games, but also Western sanctions and countersanctions, a fall of GPD, bankruptcy of tour operators, the growth of prices, fluctuations of exchange rates and other economic troubles.
However, according to the Speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko, “it was a difficult, but very interesting, intensive, and fruitful year.” She believes that one of the achievements is ratification of the treaty on establishing the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as establishing of the United Supreme Court, and adoption of the budget which preserves social liabilities.
Commenting on the situation in the Russian banking sphere, Matviyenko stated: “For banks, food reputation is equal to capital. There are mechanisms of control over violations to prevent them. How will credit financing of the real economic sector, agriculture, small and medium-sized business be provided, considering 17% key interest? We decided to hold a governmental hour on January 28th, the first January session, to listen to reports by the Minister of Finance and the head of the Central Bank about spending money for additional capitalization, how the Ministry of Finance and the CB plan to control and manage credit financing of the real economic sector, considering the key interest…
Laws which are adopted by the Federation Council are important not only for banks, but also for the population. At the moment, deposits of almost 95% of the population are insured, as the sum is increased to 1.4 million rubles, while deposits don't exceed the sum… We have demonstrated to the population that bank deposits are a reliable instrument for saving money.”
Commenting on Ukraine’s rejection of non-aligned status, Matviyenko stressed that it was her point of view, but “this is another hasty, wrong, untimely decision made by the Kiev authorities. Regarding the fact it was made under buzz of anti-Russian statements of certain MPs, it causes bewilderment and regret. Russia doesn’t threaten Ukraine’s security. No country helped Ukraine more to support its economy and social stability than Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This is an unfriendly, thoughtless step, and it won’t lead to accession of Ukraine into NATO at the moment, I believe.”
According to Matviyenko, Ukraine is not ready to be a NATO member, and rejection of the country’s non-aligned status “won’t help stabilization of the political situation in Ukraine. It doesn’t relieve, but exaggerates tension and the clash in society, as nobody has asked the population. At first, people in various regions of Ukraine had to be asked about it; they had to hold a referendum. It means thoughtless, hasty, populist, PR steps. Someday we will see that the decision cannot be fulfilled. Until the Ukrainian authorities seriously deal with the economy, provide an all-Ukrainian national dialogue to stop the current conflict, to promote a peacemaking process, and stop adopting laws, hoping that somebody likes them, there will no progress. The law wasn’t adopted in interests of Ukraine and its people. Probably, it was adopted in interests of someone else.”
