Unusually upbeat article on Russia from the Toronto Star

Critics may warn of the erosion of political rights in Russia - but consumers just want to hit the malls.
Customers jostle and push, stuffing their carts with everything from Swedish furniture to Calvin Klein underwear. The stores – IKEA, Zara, Marks & Spencer – would be familiar to any Western shopper, although in Russia they tend to be twice the size of their counterparts in Europe or North America.’

Really interesting. I thought I better get out this weekend, grab some credit cards and go downtown Novgorod.

The Star continues:

Russia has seen eight straight years of economic growth, with expansion for 2006 estimated at 7 per cent, more than three times the rate in the European Union.

Salaries have been growing at a rate of more than 10 per cent a year and consumption is estimated to have risen by 12.5 per cent last year.

A flat income tax rate of 13 per cent and remnants of the Soviet system, such as subsidized housing and utilities, also mean that Russians have far more disposable income than a typical Western consumer.

“Russia has one of the fastest-growing income and consumption rates in the world,” says Mikhail Terentiev, a consumer analyst at Moscow’s Troika Dialog investment bank. “People who could never afford to buy quality goods now can.”

Russians Relish The Freedom To Shop