1.3. City Economy

The gross regional output (1996) – 144.4 trillion rubles (10.2% from the Russian)

The total volume of industrial output - 73,2 trillion rubles (5.8% from the Russian)

The total volume of commodity circulation - 192 trillion rubles (25.7% from the Russian)

Capital investments from all financial sources - 41,6 trillion rubles (11.2% from the Russian)

City Budget (1997)

Income - 43835 billion rubles
Expenses - 43835 billion rubles, including:
- social and cultural sectors - 18875 billion rubles (43,0%)
- municipal facilities and services - 20915 billion rubles (47,8%)

Commerce, markets, services

The retail network - 7048 outlets, including:
- food shops - 4537;
- non food shops - 2871

Markets:
- large consumer gods - 13;
- small - scale municipal - 107;
- agricultural commodities - 32;
- small-scale municipal wholesale - 13.

A network of public catering establishments - 5203

A network of consumer services – 4232

A number of the hotels in the city – 17 including
- departmental – 70;
- municipal – 22.

Municipal Facilities and Services
Dwelling houses – 38582;
Non - dwelling buildings – 39975;
Heat consumption (1996) - 106660 trillions calorie;
Electric energy consumption - 26838 million kilowatts/hour;
Total lengths of streets, main roads, thoroughfares - 4650 km;
Total lengths of drainpipe network - 5149 km;
Total lengths of open river-beds - 266 km;
Domestic waste – 5000 tons is disposed daily;
A number of incinerators – 3.

Traffic

Motor vehicles:
- private - 1550 thousand

- public, including:
- buses - 5533, route network - 4904 km, the number of routes - 482, annual passenger turnover - 2003 millions;
- trolley-buses - 1589, route network - 916,8 km, the number of routes - 85, annual passenger turnover - 1552,6 millions;
- trams - 920, route network - 446,1 km, the number of routes - 38, annual passenger turnover - 1402,2 millions.

Moscow metro:

- the length - 269,8 km, the number of station - 156, the number of lines - 11, annual passenger turnover - 3241,5 millions.

Railway:

- 9 terminals, the total length of railroads - 509 km, annual passenger turnover - 592,8millions, including 520,7 million commuters. Freight turnover - 205,2 million tons.

Airports:

1.4. Population Characteristics

Today a considerable reduction of population in both Moscow and Russia is observed as a result of the growing death rate and population migration accompanied by a dramatic birth-rate decrease. The remote consequences of the Second World War still affect the demographic dynamics in Russia and its capital. Now children of the war generation children have reached the age of fertility. Economic and political instability also has a negative impact on the birth rate.

 Now the population of Moscow is 8,638,600 that are by 242,600 less compared with 1993. This means that the process of growing old and natural reduction of population begun in the late 1980s has been proceeding.

During 1993-1997, the percentage of children in the total number of Moscow residents has reduced from 18,2% to 16,8% while the number of retired people has grown from 22,8% to 23,9%. Over the five past years, the birth rate in Moscow has been comparatively low (7,9 per 1000) and the death rate has been high (14,5 per 1000), daily average death rate being 343. The female life expectancy is 73,6 years while that of men is 61,3 years.

The population in Moscow is predominantly non-native. A variety of ethnic, geographic and professional groups of urban population can be explained by the continuous inflow of migrants from rural areas and small towns to the city. It forms the basis for the population stratification, which leads to the certain social tension. Social and demographic conditions will become even more complicated because of the low engineering and ecological level of many industries, services and construction and low wages. Therefore a greater number of migrants have already been working there and will be enlisted to work in different sectors of the city economy.

Thus, despite certain positive development observed in 1995-1997, the demographic situation in Moscow is considered to be unfavourable. As the Russian State Committee for Statistics forecasts that the number of city residents will further decrease and the population of Moscow will be 7,577,000 by 2010.

Labour resources: - 6,077,000.

In all fields of the economy 5,023,000 are engaged including

2,146,000 in public sector;

2,877,000 in non-public sector;

1,455,000 (29% of the working population) in small business sector

64,000 are officially registered as the unemployed

EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS AND CHILD-CARE FACILITIES

84 higher education institutions including 29 Universities;

1433 secondary schools including 42 state schools and 164 combined secondary school and pre-school institutions;

147 specialised secondary-education institutions;

174 vocational schools;

1820 pre-school institutions

 RELIGIOUS ORGANIZTIONS AND DENOMINATIONS

There are 807 officially registered religious organisations representing 50 different religions including 73 religious centres; 12 clerical educational institutions; 11 monasteries and convents. The Russian Orthodox Church (the Moscow Patriarchate) is the largest religious organisation.

As regards the denominations, there are 349 organisations of the Russian Orthodox Church including 329 organisations of the Moscow Patriatchate; 14 organisations of the Old Believers;

Social life in Russia has been dramatically disturbed by the present-day economic conditions. The problem of employment is getting more urgent under the market conditions. The already existing model of the population reproduction is the most influencing factor in the development of labour market in Moscow.

The city labour resources include 6.1 million, or 71 % of the total population. As compared with 1992, labour resources have grown by 110,000 due to increasing mobility of the able-bodied population. The number of those employed in the city economy has become 5.2 million, or 89 % of the able-bodied population that is by 26,000 less than it was in 1993.

The percentage of the employed at the public and municipal enterprises decreased from 73% to 42% during 1992-1995, however there has been observed a stabilising tendency since 1996. New types of employment directly caused by the changing property kinds have occurred, like private and joint venture owners and co-owners; small-scale entrepreneurs; the unpaid staff of the family businesses, etc.

The greatest growth of the number of employees has been observed in the credit, financial, public insurance and pension, commercial, maintenance and sales, building, and purchasing institutions.

Transition to the market economy has made the problems of employment worse. The level of the officially registered unemployment is below 1 % of the able-bodied population. Most of the unemployed citizens search for a job independently without applying to the employment service, therefor, the actual unemployment is at a much higher level.

The structure of the unemployed shows that the most of them are released employees. However, as compared with 1993, their number decreased from 58 % to 49 % while the number of those who quitted their jobs because of low salaries and unstable working conditions increased sharply from 33% to38%. The analysis of the structure of the unemployed in terms of the age has shown that almost one third of them are of the pre-retirement age. There are 15% of all the registered unemployed at the age of 16 to 29. Engineers, economists, technicians, researchers are most unsuccessful. In addition to obvious unemployment there exists latent unemployment caused by decreasing production, lack of raw materials and completing units. As a result, the management has to give the employees the long-term unpaid holidays.

Some unemployed people were induced to search and train for new jobs because of the small unemployment benefits. In 1994, 3320 unemployed citizens got the vocational training that is 1,2 times as much as in 1993. Nevertheless, the volume of professional training of the unemployed aimed at their further employment is insignificant. Only 58 % of those who got professional training found new jobs.

It is essential that there is a distinct division of society into two categories. The first are those who work at the enterprises of all types of property and whose income depends only on the level of their wages. The second are people who do not produce material values or provide services but receive revenues from owing some property, conducting real-estate transactions or financial speculations, etc. This negative process is manifested by a dramatically rapid falling importance of wages in the income structure of population.

Throughout the period of reforms the real wages have been steadily depreciating. The indexing of wages was still more lagging behind the growth of retail prices for the consumer goods. By September 1997, the retail prices for some of the basic food products have become 10,000 times as much as in 1985 while the monthly average wages and salaries have increased only 6,600 times. For example, the prices for wheaten bread grew 22,000 times; for milk - 16,000 times; for beef - 9,000 times.

During the period of reforms the productive and, first of all, intellectual labour had been devaluating. The falling prestige of research work, the level of remuneration of labour which is not enough even for the subsistence affected greatly the transition of scientists and researchers to other fields of activities that do not often conform to their level of qualification. New industrial relations have led to the sharp and constantly deepening differentiation of the Moscow citizens by the level of income received.

In September 1997, the polarisation of population by the income received became 6,5 times as much as the critical level (10:1). A sharp contrast was smoothed over to a certain extent by the financial crisis in autumn of 1998 when the real incomes of the top professional fell dramatically.

The structure of consumption expenditures has changed. In an average Moscow family expenses for food have grown by 10% and those for the non-food products have decreased by 15%. Consumption of almost all foodstuffs has fallen. It was particularly noticeable in so far as vegetables, fruit, berries, meat and dairy products which were consumed in small quantities earlier too. Consumption of bread and potatoes has increased that indicates the reduced nutrition quality.

The study of the ratio of the subsistence level and real income received by the Muscovites allows to make a conclusion that only those who belong to the 20% of population having the highest income may be expected to have a stable demand for the durable. Experts believe that another 80% of population would have to spend their income so that to support the subsistence levels.

At the same time Moscow ranks first among the Russian regions in so far as the growing monthly nominal money incomes per head of the population, monthly wages per person and real incomes (the second/third jobs; the "grey" sector of economy) are concerned. Wages are not considered as the basic source of income any more. No where in Russia is manifested this tendency so obviously as in Moscow where the level of life commercialisation turned to be much greater than on average in Russia. Moscow average spending capacity calculated on the basis of the costs of a standard set of 19 food products is much higher than the average Russian one, hence Moscow is regarded as one of the most conducive regions in Russia.

Today over 3 million people in Moscow receive different social aid. The social security system consists of two levels: minimal social security guarantees are provided by the city budget and there is complementary funding from the financing sources added to the budget by the prefectures (the bodies of power in the administrative districts).

There is a city integrated target social security program, which is aimed at:

- subsidising catering of schoolchildren; granting Mayor's scholarships; subsidising food products for the children under 3, large families and indigent students;

- providing aid to the families with the new-born children;

- providing aid to pensioners who have low incomes and do not work. The Moscow city authorities have set up the "the social standard of living" that is considerably above the average Russian level. Today, there are over 800,000 pensioners who have no jobs but receive the municipal subsidies.

- supporting the disabled people by making the environment more suitable for the low-mobile groups of population, providing rehabilitation, making prosthetic appliances free of charge.