An interesting piece on not-so-tanking Russian economy: http://www.newsweek.com/2015/04/24/putin-was-right-be-confident-about-russias-economy-321934.html
The key point is the same I have been repeating throughout my earlier notes: imports substitution.
The only problem is that absent investment, imports substitution is reversible. To make it sustainable, Russia needs reforms and investment. And the two are in short supply, still.
