Investor Presentaiton
5
12 Leonid B. Vardomskiy
In terms of social indicators, excluding the official unemployment indicator, the
Ryazan Oblast lags behind the average for Russia. Among the neighboring
regions, it lags significantly behind the Tula and the Lipetsk oblasts, but, at the
same time, is ahead of the Republic of Mordovia and the Penza Oblast. (Table 1)
Under the classification of the Ministry of Economy of the Russian Federa-
tion for 2000, the Ryazan Oblast was listed among the regions with a median level
of development. With the combined rating, the oblast in 1998 was number 45
among the Russian regions. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Econ-
omy, the oblast could drop to number 51 by the year 2002.5
Calculated on the basis of total financial balance.
Problems and threats to regional security
One of the main problems of the oblast throughout the recent years has been the
steady decrease in population. In 1926, the population was 2'079'000. By 1959,
Ryazan had 1'445'000 inhabitants; in 1979, 1'362'000; in 1991, 1'349'000; in 1999,
1'296'000; in early 2000, 1'284'000. During the reform years between 1991 and
2000, the population of the oblast decreased by 65'000. In the year 2000 alone, the
population of the oblast decreased by an additional 13'000, and by 1 January 2001
it reached a record low of 1'272'000. However, if the negative demographic devel-
opment between 1926 and 1989 was a result of voluntary or forced migrations,
losses during the wars, and the repression of the 1930s and 1940s, the depopula-
tion of the 1990s is due to other unfavorable demographic factors.
In 1999, the number of births in the region was 7.0 per thousand residents
(the nationwide average is 8.8), while the mortality rate was 18.6 (average in Rus-
sia: 13.6). During 11 months in 2000, the number of births per thousand inhabi-
tants decreased to 6.9, and the mortality rate increased to 19.1. On average, the
ratio of deaths over births is approaching a factor of 3. At the same time, depop-
ulation occurs mainly (80%) among the rural population, among whom the num-
ber of deaths is almost four times higher than the number of births.
In 1999, the average life expectancy corresponded to the average Russian
level; 58.8 years for men and 73.0 years for women. The Ryazan Oblast is among
the regions with the "oldest population." Over 26% of the oblast population is of
retirement age. The average rate for Russia is approximately 22%. The unfavor-
able demographic situation creates a threat of irreversible depopulation. The sit-
uation is partially improved by the positive balance of migratory movements.
However, in the recent years these figures have been consistently decreasing. In
1994, population growth through migration reached its highest point of 10,533
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