Question by : Should Russia move her capital from Moscow to somewhere further east to promote development there?
Since so much wealth is concentrated in Moscow and St. Petersburg, what would happen if Russia’s government said, ”Hey! Let’s move our seat of government to Novosibirsk!”?
Wouldn’t it help a new regional area economically develop? European Russia is wealthy enough, right?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Adam
its an idea
Answer by Michael Lastname
Novosibirsk? thats in siberia, which means its mostly mongolians there. and I highly doubt that the pure white russian government would ever do that. besides, Moscow is Russia’s landmark.
Read all the answers in the comments.
Know better? Leave your own answer!
polynesian says
Yeah, I would vote for PENZA!
-Just Dave- says
You start with the unlikely assumption that the government and the capital are there for the benefit of Russia and the Russian people. This is false. The capital is there for the benefit of the elite who run the country. They do not want to be inconvenienced by moving to the middle of Siberia just to help their own citizens.
___
@ Slava. Good analysis!
Slava T says
The problem with regional development is not location of the government as such. The problem is that corporations which use local resources (oil, gas, timber, etc.) are registered as legal entities in Moscow. It means that these corporations pay local tax (as part of the corporate taxes) to the MOSCOW budget instead of the local budgets of the Russian regions. This is a conscious and purposeful policy of the Putin’s government. It allows Putin’s government to financially control local politicians and local population. For example, if a region “supports” Putin’s and Medvedev’s “the United Russia” party (meaning that a local governor successfully rigs election in favour of the UR) then the region receives a financial transfer from the Russian Federal budget controlled by Putin.
Conclusion: the problem with the Russian regional development is of POLITICAL nature rather than economic let alone geographic. Neither Putin (aka Medvedev) nor the ruling party is interested in any “regional development” within the current political configuration.
popovoleg70 says
Do you worry about us? But i think you know about true reason for development because moving government. Don’t miss wealth and money.
Noa says
Some Russian cities have higher wages than in Moscow (mainly oil). They do their own development. No need to move the capital.
African Chocolate Thunder Nagga says
I could be wrong, but America’s strongest economic state is California, like 8th largest in the World. This state is on the complete opposite side of the nation from our capital.. Granted, they are having some problems at the current moment.
I think this move would be a drop in the bucket.