Sept. 6 – The average salary of a Russian citizen is around US$500 per month, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) has tallied.
A third of the residents surveyed made an average monthly income of around US$200 to US$330 per family member, while 21 percent earned US$330 to US$650, and only 8 percent of residents made more than US$650 per family member per month.
An average monthly income per family member for the other 38 percent of Russian citizens is less than US$200.
The poor suffer from inflation and, more than any other social strata, have suffered from the Global Financial Crisis, VCIOM experts conclude. The most vulnerable among them are those who live in countryside. Poverty and unemployment problem can be successfully solved through self-employment.
According to estimates, around US$1,650 or even less is required to start a small business in Russia, depending on the particular region.
The question is where to find the required amount of money for someone who doesn’t have a credit history and earns low income. Furthermore, banks are scarce for most Russians who live in small towns and villages.
Almost all financial institutions are concentrated in Russia’s megacities. More than 56 percent of all Russian banks are registered in the Central Federal district, and 49 percent among them are in Moscow, Russian daily Vedomosti reports. Another 29 percent of banks are located in Privolzhsky, Southern and Northwest Federal districts and 15 percent of banks are located in three other federal districts.
More then 130,000 settlements populated with 50,000 people each have no banks nearby.
The government micro-crediting program, which started last year, may change that situation. In accordance with the program, the unemployed can obtain US$2,000 from the local authorities if they decide to open a business.
According to sociological data, 20 percent of Russians interviewed by VCIOM are not able to start their own business due to initial capital deficiency.
The current level of business activity in Russia is one of the lowest in the world with only 3.9 percent of Russian citizens running their own businesses.
