The Russian economy is in its worst state since the 2009 crisis.
Modern.az reports that this was stated by economist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, former advisor to USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev on economic issues, Abel Aganbekyan, in an interview with RBC.
According to him, the civilian sector of the economy is currently “in a state of decline.”
Aganbekyan noted that while Russia's GDP grew by 4.3 percent in 2024, the growth was only 1 percent in 2025. According to state statistics, Russia's GDP decreased by 0.2 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Although the economy returned to 1.3 percent growth in the second quarter, the total growth in the first half of the year was only 0.6 percent.
Aganbekyan characterized the current Russian economic model as “state-oligarchic capitalism.” According to him, the state's share in the country's economy is very high, approximately 45 percent. He stated that if partially state-owned enterprises are also taken into account, this figure reaches 70 percent.
The economist noted that state control in the banking sector is even higher, reaching 75 percent.
According to Aganbekyan, the private business sector is increasingly shrinking. This is affected by the costs created by the war, the increasing tax burden, and the rising cost of loans due to the Central Bank's high interest rate.
“An enterprise grows, then goes bankrupt. Regions are afraid to close them because this could lead to massive unemployment. Therefore, they keep loss-making or semi-loss-making enterprises,” Aganbekyan said.
According to him, the high level of state control in the Russian economy limits the development opportunities of the private sector and further deepens the problems of the current economic model.
In Aganbekyan's opinion, the sharp weakening of economic growth rates, the shrinking of private business, and the high tax and credit burden raise serious questions about Russia's economic prospects.
It should be recalled that in 1987, Abel Aganbekyan, as an assistant to the last leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, proposed the transfer of Karabakh to Armenia, thus igniting tensions in the region.
