No sullen looks in Moscow

MOSCOW -- I am visiting this city for the first time since 1989. As it happens, former President Boris Yeltsin has died during my visit.

Moscovites seem divided between those who love him, and those who don't. Many are still bitter from having lost their jobs and livelihood during the economic collapse of the 1990s. Others, though, acknowledge that he was remarkable in that he took the step to break away from Communism and set Russia on a new course.

In 1989, the people of Moscow seem not so much in transition but in utter confusion. I remember regretting that I had changed dollars into rubles at the airport, because it was hard to find a merchant who would accept their own country's currency.

"I have rubles," one taxi driver exclaimed to me then, showing me a stack of ruble notes some four or five inches thick. "But they are worthless."

As I got into a taxi with my Soviet government "handler" in 1989, I remember him telling me: "Pretend you are Russian so the driver doesn't over charge us. Keep quiet and look sullen, and let me do all the talking."

The quiet and sullen expression is certainly not an identifying trait of a Russian in today's Moscow.

According to the television news, the average wage of Moscow citizens rose by 22% during 2006. Even with an inflation rate of 9.8%, that's still a pretty good pay raise. It's no wonder President Vladimir Putin is so popular. In fact, many expect that Putin will somehow work things out so that he stays in office for a third term, in spite of what the constitution says now.

The people I talk to here agree, though, that Russia's economy essentially is based on the export of oil, gas and other commodities. There is no manufacturing industry to speak of. Driving through the streets of Moscow, it seems that about 90% of the cars are imported.

It is interesting to see the number of casinos operating along Moscow's main thoroughfares. I am told the government has closed down many since the beginning of the year, but there are still many left.

A real estate agent said that some apartments are selling for more than $1 million. I told this to someone else, and that person said, "Actually, I have a place I am trying to sell for $2.8 million." He says he has people coming to look at the place now and then.

One problem is the growing disparity in economic levels between Moscow and other parts of the country. The average wage in Moscow is three times what it is in the rest of the country.

Russia is still on a roller coaster ride. Ther's no telling what twists and turns still lie ahead.