RUSSIA
Critics call Putin "a modern Stalin". An influenced group with roots in civil-rights movement of the 80s now appeals to the West through the newspaper The Moscow Times to act against the regime. Putin's leadership is called "a modern version of Stalinism". "The authoritarian style of his rule is becoming more apparent, the country's military budget is increasing, military training is back in schools, nationalism and anti-West propaganda are on the rise". The freedom of press is in danger, since most of the press and other media are controlled by financial magnates closely tied to the state authorities. The group is appealing to the European Council and other international organisations to act against the war in Chechnya and the suppression of free speech in Russia. Signed by Elena Bonner (Andrei Sakharov's widow), and heads of Sakharov and Gorbachov foundations (DN 2000-03-03).
New life in Russian business. Food is profitable. Small enterpreneur Georgi Besnosov, a former developer of cosmonaut food, produces 40 types of smoked and boiled sausages sold in best shops in Moscow. The demand is much higher then he can supply. A real down-to-earth business, as different from the banks run by former partocrats. Moscow still imports 70 % of meat (90 % before the crisis). Due to low fodder production in Russia farmers cannot breed much stock. Difficulties assail Russian businessmen: high taxes (hard to make the capital work), the need to buy the equipment from abroad, shortage of skilled personnel ("agronomists, engineers and young people have disappeared from the countryside") (DN 2000-03-01).
Shelves are no longer empty. Russians are not starving, but their food ration is unbalanced. There is a shortage of iron and jodine, esp. among women and children. Meat consumption has gone down 50 % since 1989 (then it was 67 kg, the level of Britain). Import of citrus fruits decreased by half in one year. 15 % of population is undernourished. Today the majority eats what they grow themselves: potato and cabbage. Ordinary people have an average salary of 100 roubles (4 dollars) per month [Not true. Average salary is about 40 dollars, pensions are about 25 dollars - YB] (DN 2000-03-01) .
Low child birth threatens demographic situation in Russia. The country is on the brink of a population crisis. Birth rate in 1999: 1,218,800, death rate: 2,140,300. The population of Russia is now 145.5 million. The economic situation in the country is the main reason for the low birth rate. Russian families now wait longer till they decide to have children.
The newspaper interviews Natasha, who has just born a daughter. Natasha got 500 roubles from the state (about 18 dollars) and 1500 roubles from her work as a one-time payment. The monthly payment from the state is 55 roubles (2 dollars), which is paid as long as she is at home with the child. Her maternity leave can last up to three years, but she wants to start working again after the breast-feeding period is over.
In 1999 about 60 000 children under 17 died in Russia. The infant death rate is relatively high, mainly due to the shortage of medicines and long transportation to hospitals.
Among the adult population, especially men, drinking is the main cause of the rising death toll. Alcohol poisoning (moonshine vodka) alone causes a whooping 35 000 deaths in Russia every year. The average life expectancy of Russian men is 59 years, which is 12 - 15 years less then for West European men. (SvD 2000-03-05)
Da! Da! Da! We want to have Ikea! Ikea's founding father was of course on the spot when the 159th department store of the furniture chain now present in the 29th country was inaugurated. For Ingvar Kamprad, who turns 74 in a week, the opening of the first store in Russia is a very big event. "As early as I began to make business with Russia at the end of the 50s I already had a dream about establishing here. Now it has happened."
The premiere was as chaotic as many hoped and some feared. The queue was already long before the entrance early in the morning, the crowd was pressing itself by the counters and cash-desks and a traffic jam ensued on the road leading to the store. Ikea is located near the Moscow-Sheremetievo motorway and if there were those who missed the plane that morning, the cause was evident, as the turnoff was blocked by a kilometre-long jam.
Ikea has invested USD 100 million in Russia and therefore it will take long to see the profits. Russia is an important country also from the production point of view. One of the impediments to Ikea's global expansion has been the production costs. At present Ikea buys 1 % of the total cost of materials and finished products from Russia. In Russia there is both raw materials and cheap, competent personnel, and from this perspective this investment is very important as well.
In order to be profitable, the new store in Moscow will have to increase the share of locally produced furniture. True, the import tariffs have been lowered from original 200 % to 25-30 %, but they are still too high for the low-priced furniture that Ikea offers. Now 10 % of the furniture is Russian-made and it should be increased to about 35 % to achieve profitability.
The first big step has been made, therefore, and the contract is already signed for another ground in Moscow. In total, five stores are planned in Moscow and two in St. Petersburg. "When in 1988 I met the then Soviet Prime Minister Vladimir Ryzhkov, we agreed that Ikea should be one day in all Russian cities with the population over one million", said Ingvar Kamprad. On this day it looked as his dream was coming true (SvD-N, 2000-03-23)
Is Ikea coping with Russians' demand? Ikea's chief in Russia Lennart Dahlgren: We had over 365 000 visitors in the first three weeks and it was much higher that we'd expected. The sale budget was put relatively high, but still it was surpassed by 50 %. That's why we had the supply problem. Last Monday was the worst day I can remember. We did not have any sofas left and just two beds. It was empty here. We get 10 trucks per day, but everything is sold straight away. Yet Russians show wonders of patience. I am amazed that they buy everything. Many come with their notes in hand and quickly decide to buy a whole kitchen. (SvD-N, 2000-04-15)
Educated to be poor. As a recent opinion poll shows, the majority of Swedes believes that university-educated employees earn more than industrial workers and that Sweden has a high percentage of people possessing higher education diplomas. The reality is completely different:
- only one in ten Swedes aged 25 - 34 has had some form of higher education (3 and more years);
- a secondary school teacher earns less than an industrial worker by 600 kr (USD 70);
- judges and lawyers earn not more than 600 kr. more per month compared to industrial workers. (SvD 2000-03-05, editorial)
Sweden suffers the shortage of qualified labour. Almost 70% of companies polled by Nutek (Swedish Education and Technology Development Board) experience difficulties in hiring people with suitable competence. Most acute it is for IT companies (15 000 - 20 000 unfilled vacancies), but the problem is faced also by other sectors, such as construction, trade and finance. 50 % of the polled companies report that an increased supply of qualified work force is the most important condition for continued investment in Sweden for the next 10 years.
The labour shortage is alarming and the government with the coalition parties must take quick measures. And this is not about shortening the working time - forget it!
Instead the educational system must be equipped and made it fit for providing the economy with required specialists. In the meantime, we need to effectively attract capable people from other countries.
The trade union reasoning that "first we need to utilise the knowledge of unemployed Swedes" is both counterproductive and unprincipled. (SvD, editorial: 14 July 2000)
Democracy in 2013? Swedish political parties are losing members. If the process goes at the same rate, in 2013 the parties will disappear. The Youth Democratic Commission proposes to lower the voting age barrier to 16 years, as well as to make a mandatory 15% quote for candidates below 30 years old. (DN: 28 June 2000)
Oresund Bridge connecting Swedish Malmo and Danish Copenhagen was officially opened for traffic 1 July 2000. It combines a bridge itself (7.9 km) turning into a tunnel (4 km) at a man-made island Pepparholmen (4 km). The project was completed in 1993 - 99 at the cost of 24 billion kr. (USD 3 billion). Malmö area is now economically the fastest growing region of Sweden. (Aftonbladet: 1 July 2000)
60 times faster. Broadband is a collective term for various methods of high-speed data transfer. In order to be called broadband the transfer speed should be at least 2 Mbit/sec. This is 60 faster than a usual modem. A sound file that takes 10 min. to upload with a usual modem, can be transferred in 10 sec. via broadband. Transferring films requires 5 - 10 Mbit. (SvD, 2000-03-25)
IT job market. According to the AMS [Swedish Labour Authority] employment forecast (DN 1999-12-22, p. 11) the largest number of jobs in Sweden in 2000 will be created in the IT and technology spheres: computer professions - 10 000, other hi-tech jobs - 4 000 (Total number of new jobs: 60 000). Entry salaries for computer-related jobs are often 25 000 - 29 000 kr (USD 3 000 - 3 500 gross). The biggest growth is expected in the Internet-related jobs.
The Girl that Everyone Wants to Hire. Enterprises pay 50 000 kr. as a reward for hiring IT-personnel.
REWARDS ARE BECOMMING COMMON - "Wanted! IT project leaders and system creators. The first three tips leading to capturing the above will be rewarded with 20 000 kr.", writes the company Intra-X in its Job Announcements. "We have tried this method three times, says A. Söderström from Intra-X Data. The first time we offered even 50000 kr".
In a similar way an IT company MSC has offered to its employees a 30,000 kr. bonus if they give the management a good suggestion about a person that can be recruited. "This method has become popular this year, says Åke Boman, recruitment manager at IDC. Several companies that place announcements and recruit through us now offer rewards to find personnel".
COMPANIES ARE QUEUING UP - Louse Jansson, 24, has studied IT and human resources management at Uppsala University for 4 years. She has not finished yet, but several companies have already showed interest to employ her. "Being a female in this branch is, of course, what the companies are especially attracted by", says she. "I am not at all worried about finding a job."
She has already had some internship as a programming teacher at Ericsson. "I look in the future with optimism. Before I accept a permanent position, I'll make a round-the-globe trip" (Aftonbladet 1999-10-10, p.13)
Foreigners are welcomed by the German industry. At least 20 000 programmers and computer experts from India, East Europe and Russia will help Germany to compete with USA and Japan in the new IT-world. At the first stage, 10 000 and then another 10 000 specialists will be given work and residence permits within 5 years.
According to the German government, the shortage of computer specialists in the country is 100 000. At present Germany has no immigration quotas (the USA invites 180 000 foreign computer specialists every year).
Stockholm in the IT top. Stockholm with its suburb Kista got to the top in the ranking of world's IT centres made by the American magazine Wired. Stockholm got 15 points of the 16 possible and thus second only to Silicon Valley. Stockholm shares its place with Boston (USA) and Israel.
Four criteria were used with max. 4 points per each: 1) universities and research centres capability; 2) established/multinational companies' presence; 3) entrepreneurship; 4) venture capital availability.The ranking turned out to be as follows: Stockholm lost 1 point in the education category, despite the fact that a new IT university had been started in Kista with the student body of 12,000: specialists can't be produced overnight.
An important reason for Sweden's high ranking is an early deregulation of the telecom market, as well as Ericsson's investment in mobile telephony. We have also distinguished ourselves by high technical competence in combination with a large number of users (mature market).
In Israel, which also ranks high, the success has depended on immigration of a large number of well-educated Russians. The domestic market is small, but Israel alone has as many companies quoted at NASDAQ as the whole Europe. (DN: 11 July 2000)
Start Page > My Sweden > Articles from the Swedish Press
1) Silicon Valley;
2) Stockholm/Kista, Boston, Israel;
3) Helsinki, London, Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill (NC, USA);
4) Austin (USA), Bangalore (India), San Francisco, Taipei;
5) Albuquerque (USA), Cambridge (UK), Dublin, Montreal, New York, Seattle.