Chris Weafer and Government

government: With the economy expected to contract by up to 5 percent this year and relations with the West at a post-Cold War low, the question of how the government chooses to pursue economic growth — and whether it succeeds — has rarely been so urgent. "This whole crisis has greatly exposed the need for more urgent action on attracting investment and creating diversification," said Chris Weafer, a senior partner with Moscow-based investment consultancy Macro Advisory, according to The Moscow Times. Here are the top three challenges to Russian socio-economic development, as listed in the government revised guidelines for action through 2018. 1. But as the country slides into a deep recession this year, is the state focusing on the right ones This question came to the fore last week when the government published a document on its website listing the three "main challenges" it sees to Russia socio-economic development. Cheaper Oil, Gas and Metals Number one on the government list is a global dive in the prices of commodities such as oil, gas and metals. Energy exports made up about 65 percent of Russian exports in the first quarter of this year, with exports of metal and metal goods accounting for another 10 percent, The Moscow Times calculated using Federal Customs Service data. These price falls are bad news for the Russian economy. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.