Bad economic decisions for 40 years that led to its near demise. Russia is coming back up in a new form right now. It is not the old soviet Russia. You can say that t are different beast altogether. T lost most of their industries to Ukraine and other nations of the soviet union. T have rebuilt their industry in the Russian heartland and now exploiting their resources like massive oil deposits. This the first time t are extracting so much oil and inviting investments in oil in Russia. Some say that Russia currently has more oil than even Saudi Arabia. It just needs to be tapped. Other than that their technology and industrial base is coming up fast and only needs 2 more decades to be a frontline economy. Their bigger problem is their dwindling population. Their population is actually dropping. Their fertility rates are below replacement number of 2.56. Not enough kids. Their future economic strength will depend on their ability to increase their population and bring in better income equality. At a population of about a 100 million, their total workforce is most likely about 40 million. That's actually quite small for a nation as large as Russia. Most of the population can be put to high technology and heavy engineering other than banking, agriculture and education meaning that t will actually have a shortage of labor. It also means that basic products will need to be imported as t focus on high tech. Fortunately for them, t can rely on China, India and so many other nations to provide basic commodities while t pay with oil and raw materials in addition to high tech products.
In fact t are already importing huge amounts of iron ore and bauxite. India is even considering buying huge amounts from t to create an export sector. They are doing this because they have a huge need for cheap electricity. They need all they can get. As t rely on imports for almost everything other than food, it will require a significant shift in how t produce themselves (sustainably). If they choose to do this effectively, they will only be able to absorb a small percentage of their population. T can't really rely on any of their other industrial plants to continue. China is already using them like farmworkers. They are even building an airport terminal in them. They are working hard to change the minds of the Chinese to want to see them as partners. They are working to help them achieve these goals. Furthermore, they have been successful in.