https://sputniknews.in/20250410/land-of-landowners-why-russia-is-unique-as-economy-and-nation-8965492.html
Land of Landowners: Why Russia Is Unique as Economy and Nation
Land of Landowners: Why Russia Is Unique as Economy and Nation
Sputnik India
Which nation has a chance not only to weather the current global economic storm, but to gain from it? That vastly depends on economic models, or on inner... 10.04.2025, Sputnik India
2025-04-10T11:00+0530
2025-04-10T11:00+0530
2025-04-10T11:00+0530
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And, very suddenly, Russia seems to have at least one unusual resource of strength, unnoticed by Russian themselves and almost unknown to outsiders.That resource is land. Which could be very obvious to anyone knowing that we are talking about the biggest country in the world (by territory), inhabited by only 146 million people. Does that make the nation weak or strong? You may easily get both answers, if you are not careful.And now for a totally unexpected fresh fact: today 46 per cent of Russians have a second home outside their city dwelling. That’s a big or very modest house in the countryside, with a plot of land around it. And here we do not count a pure case of village-dwellers, people who spend most of their lives far away from the cities. We are the nation of landowners, like no other in the world.How could that fact add to national resilience in the face of the current raging battle of protectionism against the opened global economy? There is at least a dozen of angles to approach that subject, depending on what you want to understand, be it things material or moral. I don’t pretend even to try to give you the whole picture, only a couple of relatively new trends that every foreigner might want to know, so as to avoid surprises in evaluating Russia’s future role in global affairs.First, we are talking about the turbulent times of mass migration of Russians. That trend became obvious with a publication, this week, of Moscow University’s Economic Faculty’s Center of Geodemography (sounds solid and respectable, doesn’t it?). Simply speaking, according to the report, young people are increasingly moving from smaller cities to the huge ones, with their modern industries hungry for workers, new technologies and, inevitably, glamor and fun. Depopulation and decay of smaller cities and old, traditional villages are definitely a problem.But then, there is also a similarly powerful flow of people around 40 years of age to the countryside around the big cities, eager to get themselves even a small patch of land for fun and recreation from that endless roar of huge metropolices, like Moscow with its 13 million of people. So, while the “old” villages may get depopulated, the new ones are spreading around the modern cities, even squeezing out the traditional agricultural settlements of the previous eras.The silver lining of that turbulent process is the fact that such kind of dynamic Russians are the ones who want to see the world, like in going to India at least for once in their life. In any case, the tourist agencies are more likely to be found in the huge cities, not to mention the international airports.Needless to say, these new Russians are your friends. You have to be very much of a Russian capitol dweller to embrace all these globalist ideas about universal values and rules-based world order, directed by the proper people from Europe or the US.While the constant inflow of provincial Russians to the big cities makes such Russian Westerners careful in their obligatory disdain to their own motherland. While a typical Russian globalism of today is inevitably East-oriented, for the simple reason that it’s the nations of the so-called global majority that make a Russian family welcome in all these places, like India or Middle East, or South East Asia, or Latin America.Coming back to our land ownership, a surge of it has been registered starting from the year 2022. Literally millions of people, says the Moscow University report, ran from places like Moscow or St. Petersburg to the nearby areas, sometimes with an intention to settle there for good, or to have a backup home out there.Being a happy land owner myself, I was witnessing that surge and talked to people snooping around my country house, looking for a place to buy. I seem to know their basic motivation. It was the Covid pandemic, of course. Thing is, some mayors of the big cities really, really tried to monkey the US or Europe, imposing lockdowns on their subjects, with masks and all.That policy proved to be a complete flop in around 1-2 months, and gradually dissolved even officially, but it’s in the countryside where life went on almost as usual, without any visible effect on the health or mortality. But the people made their firm conclusion from that episode, willing to get themselves at least a second home far away from any future administrative madness.So, today, my serene cottage lane in the countryside has got itself neighbors, that is two big similar villages, still under construction. Gas pipelines, not to mention water wells with pumps, are already in place. New grocery stores are ready to open, together with at least three ones, selling things for gardening and housekeeping. It may only be flowers in that garden, but later on in most cases a land plot induces a family to try to grow some vegetables of its own. Statistic tells us that 125 million of Russians, which almost means the whole country, has access to own vegetable and fruit, be it from their land or the plots of relatives.All these facts have surfaced, recently, due to the new laws passed by the Parliament last week. Basically these laws clean the land, banning сhaotic grabbing of plots for industrial and other purposes. Which means that there’ll be no factories and warehouses, suddenly springing up near my country house. There’ll also be no way how one could purchase a land plot, leaving it unattended and strewn with rubbish for years to come. All that says that the government is very much aware of the landowning surge in the country, and supports it actively.If you noticed, we have already touched upon several drivers of Russian economic growth, all spanning from the process of big city people moving to the countryside. That’s a whole host of industries, from building to agriculture to running local stores, looking sometimes more glamorous that the ones in Moscow. Then there are roads to build or maintain, and cars to sell and repair, with rising sales of petrol (electric cars are deeply unpopular in Russia). These drivers of growth are unlikely to be affected by the global war of tariffs and counter-tariffs.And then there is something that we, the nation, do not know about ourselves, since these are things natural to us, but maybe not so natural to others. You may call it a special countryside mentality. Next to every and any Russian loves our forests and fields, is at home there and knows how to grow cucumbers or something similar beneath own window. I would not say it makes us more patriotic than others, but that landowner’s mentality certainly makes us different.Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.comThe compact versionWhich nation has a chance not only to weather the current global economic storm, but to gain from it? Very suddenly, Russia seems to have at least one unusual resource of strength, unnoticed by Russian themselves and almost unknown to outsiders.That resource is land. Which could be very obvious to anyone knowing that we are talking about the biggest country in the world (by territory), inhabited by only 146 million people. And now for a totally unexpected fresh fact: today 46 per cent of Russians have a second home outside their city dwelling. That’s a big or very modest house in the countryside, with a plot of land around it. We are the nation of landowners, like no other in the world.That trend became obvious with a publication, this week, of Moscow University’s Economic Faculty’s Center of Geodemography. Simply speaking, according to the report, young people are increasingly moving from smaller cities to the huge ones, with their modern industries hungry for workers, new technologies and, inevitably, glamor and fun. Depopulation and decay of smaller cities and old, traditional villages are definitely a problem.But then, there is also a similarly powerful flow of people around 40 years of age to the countryside around the big cities, eager to get themselves even a small patch of land for fun and recreation from that endless roar of huge metropolices, like Moscow with its 13 million of people. So, while the “old” villages may get depopulated, the new ones are spreading around the modern cities, even squeezing out the traditional agricultural settlements of the previous eras.The silver lining of that turbulent process is the fact that such kind of dynamic Russians are the ones who want to see the world, like in going to India at least for once in their life. In any case, the tourist agencies are more likely to be found in the huge cities, not to mention the international airports.All these facts have surfaced, recently, due to the new laws passed by the Parliament last week. Basically these laws clean the land, banning сhaotic grabbing of plots for industrial and other purposes. All that says that the government is very much aware of the landowning surge in the country, and supports it actively.If you noticed, we have already touched upon several drivers of Russian economic growth, all spanning from the process of big city people moving to the countryside. That’s a whole host of industries.And then there is something that we, the nation, do not know about ourselves, since these are things natural to us, but maybe not so natural to others. You may call it a special countryside mentality. Next to every and any Russian loves our forests and fields, is at home there and knows how to grow cucumbers or something similar beneath own window. I would not say it makes us more patriotic than others, but that landowner’s mentality certainly makes us different.Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
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Land of Landowners: Why Russia Is Unique as Economy and Nation
Which nation has a chance not only to weather the current global economic storm, but to gain from it? That vastly depends on economic models, or on inner resilience of different societies.
And, very suddenly, Russia seems to have at least one unusual resource of strength, unnoticed by Russian themselves and almost unknown to outsiders.
That resource is land. Which could be very obvious to anyone knowing that we are talking about the biggest country in the world (by territory), inhabited by only 146 million people. Does that make the nation weak or strong? You may easily get both answers, if you are not careful.
And now for a totally unexpected fresh fact: today 46 per cent of Russians have a second home outside their city dwelling. That’s a big or very modest house in the countryside, with a plot of land around it. And here we do not count a pure case of village-dwellers, people who spend most of their lives far away from the cities. We are the nation of landowners, like no other in the world.
How could that fact add to national resilience in the face of the current raging battle of protectionism against the opened global economy? There is at least a dozen of angles to approach that subject, depending on what you want to understand, be it things material or moral. I don’t pretend even to try to give you the whole picture, only a couple of relatively new trends that every foreigner might want to know, so as to avoid surprises in evaluating Russia’s future role in global affairs.
First, we are talking about the turbulent times of mass migration of Russians. That trend became obvious with a publication, this week, of Moscow University’s Economic Faculty’s Center of Geodemography (sounds solid and respectable, doesn’t it?). Simply speaking, according to the report, young people are increasingly moving from smaller cities to the huge ones, with their modern industries hungry for workers, new technologies and, inevitably, glamor and fun. Depopulation and decay of smaller cities and old, traditional villages are definitely a problem.
But then, there is also a similarly powerful flow of people around 40 years of age to the countryside around the big cities, eager to get themselves even a small patch of land for fun and recreation from that endless roar of huge metropolices, like Moscow with its 13 million of people. So, while the “old” villages may get depopulated, the new ones are spreading around the modern cities, even squeezing out the traditional agricultural settlements of the previous eras.
The silver lining of that turbulent process is the fact that such kind of dynamic Russians are the ones who want to see the world, like in going to India at least for once in their life. In any case, the tourist agencies are more likely to be found in the huge cities, not to mention the international airports.
Needless to say, these new Russians are your friends. You have to be very much of a Russian capitol dweller to embrace all these globalist ideas about universal values and rules-based world order, directed by the proper people from Europe or the US.
While the constant inflow of provincial Russians to the big cities makes such Russian Westerners careful in their obligatory disdain to their own motherland. While a typical Russian globalism of today is inevitably East-oriented, for the simple reason that it’s the nations of the so-called global majority that make a Russian family welcome in all these places, like India or Middle East, or South East Asia, or Latin America.
Coming back to our land ownership, a surge of it has been registered starting from the year 2022. Literally millions of people, says the Moscow University report, ran from places like Moscow or St. Petersburg to the nearby areas, sometimes with an intention to settle there for good, or to have a backup home out there.
Being a happy land owner myself, I was witnessing that surge and talked to people snooping around my country house, looking for a place to buy. I seem to know their basic motivation. It was the Covid pandemic, of course. Thing is, some mayors of the big cities really, really tried to monkey the US or Europe, imposing lockdowns on their subjects, with masks and all.
That policy proved to be a complete flop in around 1-2 months, and gradually dissolved even officially, but it’s in the countryside where life went on almost as usual, without any visible effect on the health or mortality. But the people made their firm conclusion from that episode, willing to get themselves at least a second home far away from any future administrative madness.
So, today, my serene cottage lane in the countryside has got itself neighbors, that is two big similar villages, still under construction. Gas pipelines, not to mention water wells with pumps, are already in place. New grocery stores are ready to open, together with at least three ones, selling things for gardening and housekeeping. It may only be flowers in that garden, but later on in most cases a land plot induces a family to try to grow some vegetables of its own. Statistic tells us that 125 million of Russians, which almost means the whole country, has access to own vegetable and fruit, be it from their land or the plots of relatives.
All these facts have surfaced, recently, due to the new laws passed by the Parliament last week. Basically these laws clean the land, banning сhaotic grabbing of plots for industrial and other purposes. Which means that there’ll be no factories and warehouses, suddenly springing up near my country house. There’ll also be no way how one could purchase a land plot, leaving it unattended and strewn with rubbish for years to come. All that says that the government is very much aware of the landowning surge in the country, and supports it actively.
If you noticed, we have already touched upon several drivers of Russian economic growth, all spanning from the process of big city people moving to the countryside. That’s a whole host of industries, from building to agriculture to running local stores, looking sometimes more glamorous that the ones in Moscow. Then there are roads to build or maintain, and cars to sell and repair, with rising sales of petrol (electric cars are deeply unpopular in Russia). These drivers of growth are unlikely to be affected by the global war of tariffs and counter-tariffs.
And then there is something that we, the nation, do not know about ourselves, since these are things natural to us, but maybe not so natural to others. You may call it a special countryside mentality. Next to every and any Russian loves our forests and fields, is at home there and knows how to grow cucumbers or something similar beneath own window. I would not say it makes us more patriotic than others, but that landowner’s mentality certainly makes us different.
Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
Which nation has a chance not only to weather the current global economic storm, but to gain from it? Very suddenly, Russia seems to have at least one unusual resource of strength, unnoticed by Russian themselves and almost unknown to outsiders.
That resource is land. Which could be very obvious to anyone knowing that we are talking about the biggest country in the world (by territory), inhabited by only 146 million people. And now for a totally unexpected fresh fact: today 46 per cent of Russians have a second home outside their city dwelling. That’s a big or very modest house in the countryside, with a plot of land around it. We are the nation of landowners, like no other in the world.
That trend became obvious with a publication, this week, of Moscow University’s Economic Faculty’s Center of Geodemography. Simply speaking, according to the report, young people are increasingly moving from smaller cities to the huge ones, with their modern industries hungry for workers, new technologies and, inevitably, glamor and fun. Depopulation and decay of smaller cities and old, traditional villages are definitely a problem.
But then, there is also a similarly powerful flow of people around 40 years of age to the countryside around the big cities, eager to get themselves even a small patch of land for fun and recreation from that endless roar of huge metropolices, like Moscow with its 13 million of people. So, while the “old” villages may get depopulated, the new ones are spreading around the modern cities, even squeezing out the traditional agricultural settlements of the previous eras.
The silver lining of that turbulent process is the fact that such kind of dynamic Russians are the ones who want to see the world, like in going to India at least for once in their life. In any case, the tourist agencies are more likely to be found in the huge cities, not to mention the international airports.
All these facts have surfaced, recently, due to the new laws passed by the Parliament last week. Basically these laws clean the land, banning сhaotic grabbing of plots for industrial and other purposes. All that says that the government is very much aware of the landowning surge in the country, and supports it actively.
If you noticed, we have already touched upon several drivers of Russian economic growth, all spanning from the process of big city people moving to the countryside. That’s a whole host of industries.
And then there is something that we, the nation, do not know about ourselves, since these are things natural to us, but maybe not so natural to others. You may call it a special countryside mentality. Next to every and any Russian loves our forests and fields, is at home there and knows how to grow cucumbers or something similar beneath own window. I would not say it makes us more patriotic than others, but that landowner’s mentality certainly makes us different.
Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
