RUSSIA - The Non-OPEC Countries - Part 9.

After a somewhat chaotic transition through the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia is now set on a more stable course. There are still a number of uncertainties on the horizon, but there is a much greater level of confidence internally and worldwide about the potential for prosperity in Russia. The transition from being a Communist empire to what a prominent Russian intellectual has called "the unknown" is still underway, but things have improved considerably since the early 1990s.

Indeed, Russia's vast resources today are better managed than even as recently as 1999, and under the presidency of Vladimir Putin the chances seem to be strong that they would be better managed in the coming years. The decision makers for the petroleum sector, controlled by an authoritarian president, are betting the transition will lead to a strong and prosperous Russia.

With most Russians under 45 favouring reforms based on political pluralism and a free market, the older ones - the majority in an ageing nation - are satisfied to see central control in resource management restored by Putin. The Communists and nationalists no longer dominate the lower house of parliament, the Duma, where majority is controlled by Putin, who has added what most Russians want: the dictatorship of the law in a re-centralised system, with the KGB revived under the FSB name, and more respect for the authority of the Orthodox church.