Russian Duma mulling reintroducing the infamous USSR Food Stamps to alleviate poverty

[AndreasHG]

'The head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, supported the idea of reintroducing food stamps, as in the USSR. Earlier, the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Alexei Besprozvannykh, announced plans to introduce food social cards in 2025.'

 

'Dmitry Yanin, Chairman of the Board of the International Confederation of Consumer Societies (KonfOP), said mk.ru that the measure proposed by Anatoly Aksakov could help about 18 million Russians who live in poverty. He noted that each such citizen could be allocated 3 thousand rubles a month [approximately $28.80 at the current exchange rate], which would be allowed to be spent only on the purchase of food.'

 

The proposal, a clear indication that the Russian economy is deteriorating under the growing cost of Putin's "Special Operation", has been announced on a number of Russian news outlets, including several online. Pensioners, government and state-owned enterprise employees are the one suffering the most due to the galloping inflation, because their pensions and salaries do not increase at the same rate inflation erodes their purchasing power.

 

В ГОСДУМЕ ПОДДЕРЖАЛИ ИНИЦИАТИВУ О ВВЕДЕНИИ.. | Говорят Мытищи | VK

В России задумались о введении продуктовых социальных карт: по примеру СССР - МК

 

 

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, AndreasHG said:

В ГОСДУМЕ ПОДДЕРЖАЛИ ИНИЦИАТИВУ О ВВЕДЕНИИ.. | Говорят Мытищи | VK

В России задумались о введении продуктовых социальных карт: по примеру СССР - МК

I have no idea what that means, which means that i have no way of knowing what sort of source it is.

 

Try harder.

[AndreasHG]

25 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I have no idea what that means

 

LOL. Thank you for confirming. I always knew you have no idea. 

[VBer]

That’s why you see so many Russians in tourist places nowadays. They out of food there and flying to  Thailand in hope to get something to eat.

[AndreasHG]

44 minutes ago, VBer said:

That’s why you see so many Russians in tourist places nowadays. They out of food there and flying to  Thailand in hope to get something to eat.

 

The plan to reintroduce food stamps has been announced in Russian news outlets and is supported by the pro-Putin head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov.

 

Do you really believe that Russian outlets are full of BS and pro-Putin Duma members have no clue of what they talk about? Well, I strongly agree with you.

 

 

[3NUMBAS]

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1989582/russia-winter-crops-failure-food-crisis/amp
 

food crisis

[NativeBob]

Yesterday I saw them starving in Silom restaurant. They barely held utensils over lobsters and king shrimps. Some dude brought a bottle of red wine, obviously it was empty, just to tease them.

Meanwhile, in Sheraton ...

[AndreasHG]

1 hour ago, NativeBob said:

They barely held utensils over lobsters and king shrimps. Some dude brought a bottle of red wine

 

Obviously, there are many Russians who profit from the war and become rich from it. Those who can still afford a holiday in Thailand. The lucky ones who can afford to feast on lobsters and wine, despite the fact that the ruble has lost 10% of its value against the dollar in a year, and those who still have access to foreign currency. 

These people are not sent to die on the battlefields in Ukraine, and they certainly do not need food stamps to survive.

By the way, true Russian oligarchs, unlike the humble, uneducated and yet enriched Russian commoners and plebeians you enjoy observing, only pair white Burgundy with their Maine lobsters. They would never spoil their Maine lobsters with a cheap, light-bodied red wine.
 

Food stamps are intended for those Russians tightening their belts due to Putin's criminal war. Pensioners, government employees such as teachers, doctors, law enforcement, etc. are among the hardest hit by inflation because their wages and benefits are tied to the official inflation rate.

And with the central bank benchmark interest rate at 21%, it is childish to believe that the real inflation stands only at 9%, as the official data suggest. Independent assessments put the inflation closer to 15-16% (with the interesting result that the Russian GDP may not be growing at all, contrary to what the regime would like us to believe).

 

Instead of wasting your time spying on Russians feasting on lobsters and cheap red wine, you'd better spend more time reading, studying and staying informed. Just saying.

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

1 hour ago, NativeBob said:

Yesterday I saw them starving in Silom restaurant. They barely held utensils over lobsters and king shrimps. Some dude brought a bottle of red wine, obviously it was empty, just to tease them.

Meanwhile, in Sheraton ...

Imagine that, how much money are they making from the war and the rampant corruption in Russia I wonder..................

[VBer]

I will not persuade you that the majority of economy is not war-related, and people can legally earn significant money outside war, just want to ask

2 hours ago, AndreasHG said:

cheap red wine

How did you knew that their wine was cheap?

[AndreasHG]

7 hours ago, VBer said:

How did you knew that their wine was cheap?

 

For the same reason I know your question should have been written "How did you know that their wine was cheap?" to be grammatically correct.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 12/18/2024 at 11:58 AM, AndreasHG said:

 

LOL. Thank you for confirming. I always knew you have no idea. 

Yawn.

[VBer]

2 hours ago, AndreasHG said:

your question should have been written

Okay, I will rewrite it. How did you know that their wine was cheap?

[Patong2021]

I  have a feeling that the sanctions are  being felt in Russia now, even with the wealthy. The Russians I am seeing in Hua Hin are  some of the nastiest, meanest scowling group I have seen in years.  Gone are the young friendly under 30's. It's the government appartchiks and military people type. Cheap and angry at everyone. Last night I am out for dinner with my friends,  and this Russian guy is staring at us in disgust the entire meal, just looking like he wants to start a fight. Never experienced that before. 

 

There are not as many in Hua hin compared to previous years, and they seem a lot more antagonistic and lower income. The other day, I see a Russian buying a beer with his family at 7-11. He goes outside, scorfs it down and then goes back to buy another, like real low class mongrel behaviour. Never ever have I seen a Russian act like that previously. They were always quiet, and kept to themselves.  Unlike  last year at this time, I don't see the Russians in the higher end restaurants anymore. I do see them at the  food courts and the open market stalls more frequently.

[VBer]

Young under 30s still here, they just became invisible under the flock of low-quality tourists.

Actually it shows that economy doing well if low-class people are able to afford holiday here. For me I also don’t like the level of newcomers. Something like this was in 2013, and after the collapse of rouble in the 2014 all those low-class gone with only pleasant russian people left. I’m pretty sure that current situation will not stay long and the meltdown of economy will send these people back with mostly educated well-mannered Russians left.

[jvs]

Will it finally get into the heads of the putin boys here that the russian economy is not the best in

the world?

They will probably discard it as fake news.

There is no doubt with the coming cold the hurting for poor people will really start.

All for the ego of one little man.

[Captain Flack]

An off topic troll post has been removed

[ericbj]

World Bank Poverty Outlook for Russia : October 2024:
 https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099829310162421721/idu139cc068e1392a1497e1ba221287858c23786

 

Reuters: "Poverty level in Russia dropped to 9.3% in 2023"

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poverty-level-russia-dropped-93-2023-says-statistics-service-2024-03-06/

 

I am bewildered why fighting poverty [successfully so, it seems] can be regarded as proof of a declining economy.

 

The global economy was already stressed before half-baked politicians - serving themselves and vested interests, and backed by MSM-deluded members of the public - stressed it further.  With a "pandemic" and proxy wars.

 

People would do well to study economic data, including those from official, pro-western sources, before jumping to conclusions about Russia's economic demise.

 

[Older and Wiser]

On 12/22/2024 at 10:57 PM, AndreasHG said:

 

Obviously, there are many Russians who profit from the war and become rich from it. Those who can still afford a holiday in Thailand. The lucky ones who can afford to feast on lobsters and wine, despite the fact that the ruble has lost 10% of its value against the dollar in a year, and those who still have access to foreign currency. 

These people are not sent to die on the battlefields in Ukraine, and they certainly do not need food stamps to survive.

By the way, true Russian oligarchs, unlike the humble, uneducated and yet enriched Russian commoners and plebeians you enjoy observing, only pair white Burgundy with their Maine lobsters. They would never spoil their Maine lobsters with a cheap, light-bodied red wine.
 

Food stamps are intended for those Russians tightening their belts due to Putin's criminal war. Pensioners, government employees such as teachers, doctors, law enforcement, etc. are among the hardest hit by inflation because their wages and benefits are tied to the official inflation rate.

And with the central bank benchmark interest rate at 21%, it is childish to believe that the real inflation stands only at 9%, as the official data suggest. Independent assessments put the inflation closer to 15-16% (with the interesting result that the Russian GDP may not be growing at all, contrary to what the regime would like us to believe).

 

Instead of wasting your time spying on Russians feasting on lobsters and cheap red wine, you'd better spend more time reading, studying and staying informed. Just saying.

 

 

I read that the ruble has lost 21% in the last year, just saying.

[AndreasHG]

58 minutes ago, ericbj said:

World Bank Poverty Outlook for Russia : October 2024

Since you are in the mood of studying some data, you can read this interesting article about the quality of the Russian official data (the same used by the World Bank): Poverty and its lines: How the state is manipulating the numbers 

 

Or this study published by the Swedish Government: Poverty and its lines: How the state is manipulating the numbers 

 

And if you prefer to read a brief explanation of the Swedish researchers' findings, you may read this: Russian economy growing fast during war? Swedish economists beg to differ 

 

Based on data from the Russian independent economic research center ROMIR, the real cumulative inflation recorded in Russia from the start of the war is 87%, vs the official Rosstat data of "only 27.1%". By applying the 87% deflator (instead of the official one) to the Russian nominal GDP growth, the result is that the average 3.6 percent real GDP growth since the beginning of the war, turns into a decline of 8.7 percent.

 

Interestingly, Rosstat has never disputed the accuracy of the inflation data published by ROMIR. From November 2024 ROMIR is simply prohibited from publishing any inflation index, under penalty of prison and hefty fines. 

 

Economic data has always been manipulated as part of war propaganda, because naive people tend to believe it, despite the evidence pointing in a different direction. And our evidence is the key interest rate applied by the Russian Central Bank which, at 21%, is incompatible with an 8.5-9% inflation. Inflation must be higher to justify this rate.

 

[VBer]

22 hours ago, Older and Wiser said:

I read that the ruble has lost 21% in the last year, just saying.

It takes about 30 seconds to check it. 
But better to “read”, right?

Rouble lost 8% against the USD for the least year.

https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=RUB

[AndreasHG]

11 hours ago, VBer said:

Rouble lost 8% against the USD for the least year.

 

Against the USD, the Ruble lost 7.62% of its value compared to one year ago, 30.0% compared to two years ago, 38% compared to five years ago, and 42% compared to 10 years ago.

Since the beginning of the war (February 24, 2022) the Ruble lost 23.0% of its value against the USD, 16% against the THB, 13% against the Euro, 7.1% against the Indian Rupee and 6.5% against the Yuan.

 

[frank83628]

On 12/22/2024 at 9:57 PM, AndreasHG said:

 

Obviously, there are many Russians who profit from the war and become rich from it. Those who can still afford a holiday in Thailand. The lucky ones who can afford to feast on lobsters and wine, despite the fact that the ruble has lost 10% of its value against the dollar in a year, and those who still have access to foreign currency. 

These people are not sent to die on the battlefields in Ukraine, and they certainly do not need food stamps to survive.

By the way, true Russian oligarchs, unlike the humble, uneducated and yet enriched Russian commoners and plebeians you enjoy observing, only pair white Burgundy with their Maine lobsters. They would never spoil their Maine lobsters with a cheap, light-bodied red wine.
 

Food stamps are intended for those Russians tightening their belts due to Putin's criminal war. Pensioners, government employees such as teachers, doctors, law enforcement, etc. are among the hardest hit by inflation because their wages and benefits are tied to the official inflation rate.

And with the central bank benchmark interest rate at 21%, it is childish to believe that the real inflation stands only at 9%, as the official data suggest. Independent assessments put the inflation closer to 15-16% (with the interesting result that the Russian GDP may not be growing at all, contrary to what the regime would like us to believe).

 

Instead of wasting your time spying on Russians feasting on lobsters and cheap red wine, you'd better spend more time reading, studying and staying informed. Just saying.

 

 

Haha, where do you get you inflation from?

you know there are food banks in both UK and US right. Both also have homelessness and poverty.

[VBer]

1 hour ago, AndreasHG said:

Since the beginning of the war (February 24, 2022) the Ruble lost 23.0% of its value against the USD

Of cause war affects the economy.  Can’t be otherwise when 30% of the budget being spent on “defence”.

But the steady decline of rouble was always the policy of Russian CB. You can check the rates before the war, and the rouble was declining with the similar speed.

I don’t know why it was chosen as the policy, my guess is that it helps GDP growth and filing up the budget, and from another side big money will not hold funds in roubles anyway due to the lacking of capital protection rights in Russia.

[AndreasHG]

16 minutes ago, VBer said:

You can check the rates before the war, and the rouble was declining with the similar speed

I gave some data points:

• 10 years depreciation: 42%
• 5 years depreciation: 38%
• 2.83 years depreciation (since the start of the war): 23%
• 2 years depreciation: 30%

The ruble depreciation is clearly accelerating and it's a consequence of the war economy and of the sanctions, which are working.

[AndreasHG]

39 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

Haha, where do you get you inflation from?

you know there are food banks in both UK and US right. Both also have homelessness and poverty.

 

Индексы (romir.ru)

 

ROMIR is an independent Russian institute of research and economic analysis (Russia's largest private research company).

From November 2024 the Kremlin forbids ROMIR to publish any inflation datas because they are detrimental of the war effort, undermine the public trust in Putin's government economic wisdom, and negatively affect the morale of the Russian public.

No one was jailed because the methodology used to calculate inflation was beyond reproach. But the data can no longer be published, under penalty of prison and heavy fines.

[Will B Good]

58 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

Haha, where do you get you inflation from?

you know there are food banks in both UK and US right. Both also have homelessness and poverty.

 

 

Cumulative inflation since Russia were invited to "help" Ukrainians....71.4%......that's got to hurt poor people.

 

[VBer]

57 minutes ago, AndreasHG said:

• 10 years depreciation: 42%
• 5 years depreciation: 38%
• 2.83 years depreciation (since the start of the war): 23%

You just not included collapse of the rouble in 2014. If include it and make it 12 years, 6 years and 3 years (to fully include war times) then the depreciation will look more smooth

[Patong2021]

34 minutes ago, VBer said:

You just not included collapse of the rouble in 2014. If include it and make it 12 years, 6 years and 3 years (to fully include war times) then the depreciation will look more smooth

 

Ok then, the Russian economy is doing fantastically well and there is prosperity for all. The Russian visitors to Thailand are just fans of retro wear and their fashion sense causes them to wear the discards from 1980's KMart and Woolworth discount bins.  The Russians hunting for  marked down food items at Lotus yesterday  were just being thrifty.

 

There have been no large social investment projects since  Russia started its war. No university, no hospital, no  transportation infrastructure rejuvenation unless it is directly war related. A nation that does not invest in itself is doomed.

[frank83628]

1 hour ago, Will B Good said:

 

 

Cumulative inflation since Russia were invited to "help" Ukrainians....71.4%......that's got to hurt poor people.

 

That was a typo,was supposed to say infromation