Russian Studies

45 Chapter 5 RUSSIAN ECONOMY: MODERN HISTORY AND CURRENT TRENDS Since 1991, the Russian national economy has undergone serious transformation. This is as-sociated with the transition to a market economy, private form of ownership, active integration into the global financial system, reforms of government, legislation in the field of business activity, eco-nomic sanctions and attempts to establish economic sovereignty. Currently, the Russian economy is one of the largest global economies, possessing colossal reserves of resources, great potential for innovative development and plays a major role in world exchange due to logistics routes. BRICS expansion has a large-scale international impact on global economy; five more countries joined BRICS on January 1, 2024. The role of BRICS in the global economy is expanding with every new nation joining it and it is aimed at disrupting the Western hegemony, including by establishing the New Development Bank. The global nations` economy size is compared annually based on gross domestic product (GDP). Russian GDP calculation according to purchasing power parity in 2023 ranked the 6th. Therefore, much attention is paid to comparing the nominal GDP and the real GDP of the state. Four macroeconomic agents can be identified according to their participation role in the Russian economy: households, firms (producers of goods), government as a regulator of the econ-omy and at the same time a subject of economic activity, and the global sector, which includes all other states having economic relations. Business activities in the market of households and firms form the private sector of economy. The role of the government is not limited to regulating participants in the private sector of the economy. In addition to interfering in the market relationship between the producer and the con-sumer either by establishing taxes or providing subsi...