VOA标准英语2013--Russia Re-Industrializes as Energy Boom Fades

Russia Re-Industrializes as Energy Boom Fades

Post Soviet¹ Russia is widely seen as an industrial rust² belt. But here, in a new car making hub outside St. Petersburg, American car maker³ GM is investing to triple its production capacity.

Romuald Rytwinski, GM’s Manufacturing Manager for Russia, says the quality is world class.

“I was working 10 years as a plant manager in Western Europe,” said Rytwinski, a native of Poland. “And when I look at the cars we are making here, I’m very proud. The quality of products, it’s as good as the best plants in Western Europe.”

With these new cars, Russia this year is to finally top the peak car production level of the Soviet Union - 2.2 million in 1985.

The rebirth of car making in Russia may signal the slow start of Russia’s re-industrialization.

Seeing the end of an oil boom

Anders Aslund, a Swedish economist⁴, says that energy revenues are dictating⁵ new directions for Europe’s most populous⁶ nation.

“The oil price now seems to be leveling out, and you would expect it to go down a bit rather soon,” Aslund said on a visit to Moscow from Washington where he works for the Peterson Institute of International Economics. “And then the crowding out of other sectors⁷ by energy would diminish and at that time we will see a substantial revival⁸ of Russian manufacturing. “

Gazprom, Russia’s state gas exporting monopoly, is now offering European customers price discounts. With gas and oil production increasing around the world, Russia’s energy boom is slowing.

According to new report by the European Bank for Reconstruction⁹ & Development, Russia’s known oil reserves only allow for production to continue at current levels for 20 years. The comparable figure for Saudi Arabia is 70 years.

For now, Russia is highly vulnerable to energy prices. Oil and gas exports account for almost 70 percent of Russia’s export earnings¹⁰ and cover half of the federal budget.

With the end of this easy money in sight, foreign investors¹¹ predict that Russia will be forced to embark¹² on a new era of industrialization. During the Soviet era, the economy was closed and virtually all products were made at home.

Manufacturing a growth industry

Aslund, who has over 25 years of experience with Russia, links energy prices and local manufacturing: “The excessively high price level will decline and we'll see more economic reforms coming. And then lots of manufacturing will make sense.”

And while Europe is in recession, Russia is growing - by a forecasted 3 percent this year. Unemployment is only 5.8 percent - far below the levels of southern Europe. A lead driver of growth is consumer demand, people making up for decades of Soviet deprivation¹³ by buying good quality cars, clothes, furniture, and housing.

Bernie Sucher is an American entrepreneur with 20 years experience in Russia. He sees continued growth for Russia: “This place, for whatever reasons, is still growing, and it is likely to continue to grow and at a pace that is obviously higher than the European Union, probably higher than the United States, and better than what we’re seeing in Brazil, to pick another big emerging economy where people seem to think that everything is wonderful.”

With lower energy revenues on the horizon, the word from the Kremlin to local authorities is to encourage manufacturing investment.

Last month, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev set an ambitious goal in a policy speech: “We must support the export of high-tech¹⁴ products and services. By 2018 we must increase our non-energy exports by more than 50% as compared to 2012.”

At the GM plant outside St. Petersburg, Rytwinski, the Manufacturing Manager, says he feels a new reality taking hold.

“Before I came to Russia people were telling me it’s unpredictable, you know, permissions,” he said. “In two years, we had no plant disruptions, we have a very good material flow, we haven’t had any dispute with local authorities, we received all permissions on time.” 

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 dictating   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• The manager was dictating a letter to the secretary. 经理在向秘书口授信稿。 来自辞典例句
• Her face is impassive as she listens to Miller dictating the warrant for her arrest. 她毫无表情地在听米勒口述拘留她的证书。 来自辞典例句

6 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

7 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

9 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

10 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

11 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

12 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

13 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

14 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。