IGOR M. BRATISHCHEV* Outline of Economic Programme to Overcome Economic Crisis in Russia The economic system of every country is influenced by variety of factors (including such as territorial, climatic, demographic, etc.), which determine its peculiarity. The major part of Russia, about two thirds of its territory, is located within very unfavourable climatic zone. In other countries such zones are practically non-populated. This climatic factor determines much lower biomass per hectar, which in Russia is 2 to 2.5 times less than in Western Europe and 3 to 5 times less than in USA. The cost of production in Russia is about two times higher than in Europe. For example, the cost of raw mineral oil production in Russia is 6 to 7 times higher than in the Persian Gulf countries. We should take into account also the largeness of the Russian territory - 17 million of squire kilometres, which 3.5 times larger than the territory of all the European countries together. Formation of market on the West European pattern based upon compact short distance exchange has become virtually impossible. The economic life of any country is greatly influenced also by mentality and culture of its population, its national character being also influenced by the peculiarities of climate, soil, landscape, etc. Besides, Russia is a multinational country, each nation having its own habitual tenor of life and form of the economy. Hence, sustainable development in Russia needs some diversity in economic patterns of different constituent units of the Federation, creating unity in diversity. Apart from internal factors, some peculiar features of the Russian economy are due to the external ones. The Russian history is the history of besieged fortress. The country always had to bear huge spending on defence, because only in the XX century it spent about * Professor, Doctor of Economic Sciences M.P., Chairman, Parliamentary Sub-Committee for Regional Socio-Economic Development Social Scientist, Vol. 28, Nos. 7- 8, July-August 2000