Regions Pay and Get Poorer: The Cost of War, Sanctions, and Utility Disasters
Money, prices, hospitals, and factories: what the regions feel before it even appears in the news. "NotMoscow Speaking" reports on the country's economy through the eyes of its regions: hospital debts, shuttered businesses, farmers, public sector workers being levied, utility breakdowns, and the fuel crisis, as well as conversations with economists trying to assess what's to come.
2024
Magadan Hospitals: Multi-Billion Dollar Debts and Solutions
Magadan hospitals owe contractors over 2,5 billion rubles; this article examines how these debts can be recovered.
2024
"They closed everything, and now they'll close our bakery too."
The story of a Vologda enterprise that existed for more than 60 years but lost the battle with chain stores.
2023
Andrey Proshakov: "After the start of the SVO, many farmers were euphoric. And then there was no one left to harvest the crops."
A Volgograd emigrant farmer talks about the mood and life in the outback during the war.
2023
There is no light at the end of the tunnel at all.
A conversation with economist Evgeny Gontmakher about trends in the Russian economy since the start of the war.
2023
Is the Sapsan on its way to its final destination? How are high-speed trains being serviced after Siemens's departure from Russia?
Siemens supplied Sapsan trains to Russian Railways until March 2022; how are the trains being serviced after the company's departure?
2026
"The most important thing for Russia now is to learn to live within its means."
A discussion between economist Nikolai Kulbaka and an economic commentator from "NotMoscow Speaking."
2025
"The system is in transition—moving away from the model that contained the rules."
Economist Andrei Yakovlev on how the relationship between the Kremlin and governors is changing: changing "contracts," repression.
2024
Prisoner of Taimyr
The story of one shift, from which it was only possible to return through a hunger strike.
2023
In Russian regions, public sector employees are collecting money for "SVO"
On how regional government employees are collecting money for the "SVO": employees are being asked to "donate money for wounded soldiers."
2026
Regions are being fenced off
The fuel crisis is forcing regions to introduce refueling stations using numbers and QR codes.
2025
Housing and communal services are a permanent disaster zone.
Why Russia is failing to cope with utility accidents.
2026
Flourish in war
How to gain influence and contracts in exchange for support for the Kremlin's military expansion and soft power.