In Russia, a country so heavily reliant on revenues from oil and gas that the rouble rises and falls with the oil price, the bulk of economic performance can be linked to hydrocarbons. And with prices still down by more than half of where they traded two years ago, the government is under increasing pressure to deliver an economic strategy for growth.
While Brent Crude oil (which traded at more than $100 a barrel in August 2014) has recovered from January 2016’s lows of below $30 a barrel, it remained below $50 a barrel as of August, according to data from the Financial Times. And with some 44% of Russia's fiscal revenue being oil reliant in 2015, the country's poor economic performance has come as no surprise.
