The following economic and social paradox has attracted the attention of analysts for at least two decades.
The Soviet-style economy with its presumably full employment is dead. State-owned heavy industry is partly ruined and partly privatized in a peculiar crony manner. The consumer-oriented industries did not reach the necessary normal development scale, and stores around the country had been and still are full of imported goods ranging from cheeses and "J.W. Bush's chicken legs" to garments, footwear and mobile phones.
The whole economy and export operations have taken on an even more resource-oriented character than ever. Annual capital flight from the country is running at $100 billion to $150 billion. Investment activities, both private and budget-financed, are at an extremely low level. There were sharp financial and economic crises in 1998 and 2008, and another that started in the latter half of 2014 is happening right now.