In 2002, the Russian Economy saw its fourth-consecutive year of solid economic growth; sound budget management that produced another surplus; a stable currency; reasonable inflation; a world-leading stock market; recognition as a market economy; and, of course, a booming oil sector, which is cranking out 8 million barrels per day for the first time in a decade, meaning Russia's most important industry is back where it started. See the Economy page for a review of the Russian economy during 2002.

The armed conflict in Chechnya continued to cause problems beyond that region, with terrorist acts being carried out in neighbouring regions and as far away as Moscow. These culminated in the tragic events of last October where the armed siege of a Dubrovka theater ended with a tremendous loss of life; although, had the terrorists succeeded in blowing up the building, the number of casualties would have been far higher. The theater recently reopened after an extensive refurbishment and performances of the musical "Nord-Ost" were staged once again.

March 5 this year is the 50th anniversary of the deaths of Stalin and Prokoviev. Prokoviev died on the same day as Stalin, but because of the outpouring of grief and period of official mourning over Stalin's death, it was some time before the country noticed that Prokoviev had also died.

This summer St Petersburg celebrates 300 years since its founding, having had a lick of (gold) paint in preparation of the tercentenary celebrations. Visas for St Petersburg are said to be of limited availability because of the anniversary since officials wish to reserve them for foreign dignitaries. If I manage to get a visa I shall be going to St Petersburg in the summer, and will post my pictures on this site, on my return.

Last year, I went to Moscow for just over a week and took over 400 photographs which I am in the process of adding to my site. I have restructured this site to make it easier for me to update regularly and to continue to add photographs from previous trips to Russia as well as my forthcoming trip.

WELCOME TO DAVE'S RUSSIA PAGE

This site covers a variety of subjects relating to Russia - its economy, culture, history, politics and a number of miscellaneous topics that are of particular interest to me.

What's New provides some info on What's New since the last update, whilst About Me gives some biographical details about me.

News items can be found on the news page while  economic and business features appear on Economy

FEATURES

Why Russia? offers an insight into the reason for my interest in Russia, Cathedral of Christ Our Saviour describes the recent rebuilding of a church that was destroyed in Stalin's time.

If you want to know all about those 7 wedding cake skyscrapers in Moscow there is a lot of information and pictures in the section Moscow Skyscrapers, there is also a page dedicated to each of the seven buildings.

The Photo Archive offers a series of thumbnail pics of scenes from the Russian capital - each thumbnail can be enlarged.

Kruschev's Grave provides some background information on the construction of the tombstone in Novodevichy Convent.

I have stuck a few links to other sites in Favourite Links, this list is not too extensive as there are a number of sites listed that provide a much more comprehensive selelction of links.