Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Freelance Translator Day in Russia — May 14th

It appears that today is a holiday for freelance translators in Russia. Nobody really knows why exactly on May 14th. But one great Russian writer said (Russian translation: Russia cannot be understood with the mind alone) Умом Россию не понять. The name of the writer is Tyutchev (Russian last name) Fyodor (Russian man's first name) Ivanovich (Patronymic).

Origin of the word "freelancer": Freelancer, or a freelance worker is a person who works without a long-term contracts. This term was first used by Sir Walter Scott in 19th century in his famous "Ivanhoe."

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Army of poor Russian people continues to grow


Picture is taken from газета.ру,
the text was done by using Russian phone translation.


It is really difficult to speak about the the gap between rich and poor in Russia. During this past year the gap has not declined, but it continues to increase, according to Rosstat data.

According to the statistical agency of the distribution of money incomes among Russians in the first quarter of this year, one third of the total (30.3%) incomes of Russian population is accounted by the richest 10%, and only 1.9% - 10% share of the poorest citizens. Since last year the ratio has been steadily changing in favour of the rich. In the same period in 2007 - 10% of the richest people had 29.7% of the total incomes, and only 2% - 10% share of the poorest citizens. And this is despite the growth of salaries, pensions, as well as the growth of consumer goods.

Therefore, experts recognize the result of the prevailing rather strange, given that in late 2007 and early 2008 the Government had made efforts to increase revenues to the neediest categories of citizens - government workers and pensioners. For example, since last year the pensions grew almost by 37% and in March 2008 monthly pension was 3895 rubles; accrued average nominal wages in March of 2008 was 16428 rubbles, while real wages in March of 2008 increased by 14.6% comparing with March 2007.

But the differentiation of income is no way affected. "Therefore, efforts were inadequate and did not increase salaries", - explains expert Natalia Akindinova. Disappointing statistics related to the fact that incomes of the richest and the middle class grew more than the poor and needy Russians. For example, the proportion of the population with average incomes over 25 thousand rubles per month increased from 5.2% in the first quarter of 2007 to 9.8% in the first quarter of 2008. Those who earn 10-15 thousand rubles increased from 16.9% to 19.7%, and those who receive from 8 thousand to 10 thousand rubles - from 11.3% to 11.6%.

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