Russia, an energy superpower; a land of Science and technology, forests, and agriculture

Russia is one of the key actors in the global economy. Its contribution is at the core of numerous stakes across the world. 

With a great market of + 144 million consumers, Russia has an upper-middle income mixed economy with enormous natural resources, particularly oil and natural gas. 7 percent of the Russian population is categorized as middle class.

Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80% of Russian exports abroad. As of April 2017, foreign reserves in Russia fell to 332 USD Billion.

Russia has a flat tax rate of 13%. This ranks it as the country with the second most attractive personal tax system for single managers in the world after the United Arab Emirates.

The country has a higher proportion of higher education graduates than any other country in Eurasia.

Starting 2019 Russia plans to provide natural gas to China for the next 30 years.

The economic development of the country has been uneven geographically with the Moscow region contributing a very large share of the country's GDP.

The government has said $1 trillion will be invested in development of infrastructure by 2020.

Russia joined the World Trade Organisation, allowing it a greater access to overseas markets.

Lada is the brand of AvtoVAZ, the largest Russian car manufacturer.

Russia is the world's top producer of barley, buckwheat and oats, and one of the largest producers and exporters of rye, sunflower seed and wheat.

While large farms concentrate mainly on grain production and husbandry products, small private household plots produce most of the country's potatoes, vegetables and fruits.

Russian fishing fleets are a major world fish supplier.

Russia has more than a fifth of the world's forests, which makes it the largest forest country in the world.

Russia is a key oil and gas supplier to much of Europe.

Russia has frequently been described in the media as an energy superpower. The country has the world's largest natural gas reserves, the 8th largest oil reserves, and the second largest coal reserves. Russia is the world's leading natural gas exporter and second largest natural gas producer, while also the largest oil exporter and the largest oil producer.

Russia is the 3rd largest electricity producer in the world and the 5th largest renewable energy producer, the latter because of the well-developed hydroelectricity production in the country.

Large cascades of hydropower plants are built in European Russia along big rivers like the Volga. The Asian part of Russia also features a number of major hydropower stations, however the gigantic hydroelectric potential of Siberia and the Russian Far East largely remains unexploited.

Russia was the first country to develop civilian nuclear power and to construct the world's first nuclear power plant. Currently the country is the 4th largest nuclear energy producer, with all nuclear power in Russia being managed by Rosatom State Corporation.

The Russian government plans to allocate 127 billion rubles ($5.42 billion) to a federal program dedicated to the next generation of nuclear energy technology.

Railway transport in Russia is mostly under the control of the state-run Russian Railways monopoly. 

Much of Russia's inland waterways, which total 102,000 km (63,380 mi), are made up of natural rivers or lakes.

Russia's capital, Moscow, is sometimes called "the port of the five seas", because of its waterway connections to the Baltic, White, Caspian, Azov and Black Seas.

Major sea ports of Russia include Rostov-on-Don on the Azov Sea, Novorossiysk on the Black Sea, Astrakhan and Makhachkala on the Caspian, Kaliningrad and St Petersburg on the Baltic, Arkhangelsk on the White Sea, Murmansk on the Barents Sea, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean.

The world's only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers advances the economic exploitation of the Arctic continental shelf of Russia and the development of sea trade through the Northern Sea Route between Europe and East Asia.

Russia has 1,216 airports, the busiest being Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo in Moscow, and Pulkovo in St. Petersburg.

Major Russian cities have well-developed systems of public transport, with the most common varieties of exploited vehicles being bus, trolleybus and tram. 

Currently Russia has completed the GLONASS satellite navigation system. The country is developing its own fifth-generation jet fighter and constructing the first serial mobile nuclear plant in the world.

Nowadays Russia is the largest satellite launcher. After the United States Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, Soyuz rockets became the only provider of transport for astronauts at the International Space Station.

In Russia, approximately 70 per cent of drinking water comes from surface water and 30 per cent from groundwater. The water utilities sector is one of the largest industries in Russia serving the entire Russian population.