A participant of the rally in Bryansk-town of Russia holds a poster reading: "President and Government of Russia! Where is the actual fight with corruption? Come to Bryansk, we'll show you what to fight!"
Photo: Andrey Mahonin
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Russia Sank in Index of Economic Freedom
Russia ranks the 134th in the Index of Economic Freedom compiled by the U.S. Heritage Foundation in tandem with The Wall Street Journal. The country was No. 120 past year, scored between China and Nepal in the previous index.
But Russia is between Ukraine and Vietnam in the 2008 Index of Economic Freedom, having lost 14 positions over the period. The index measures the country’s score under ten nominations, including the investment freedom, freedom from government, trade freedom and others.
Of interest is that Russia has got the lowest score in the freedom from corruption but enjoys the highest indicator in terms of the fiscal freedom, having outpaced the United States, which scores the 5th in the total ranking.
Hong Kong leads with 90.6 scores (Russia has just 49.9), Singapore is the next and Ireland is the third leader. The top 5 list also includes Australia and the United States, which are followed by New Zealand, Canada, Chile, Switzerland and Britain.
The 2008 global index averages 60.3 scores, which is practically the same as a year earlier. Former Britain’s colonies in Asia are the leaders. On the other hand, Europe hosts a half of top 20 free economies.
It is the 14th index released by Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal; free economy and success of its development are interrelated, their experts assert.
www.kommersant.com
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