It has been already 24 years since collapse of Soviet Union, an empire that once threatened all the rest world with it's mighty military. Although military tough - economical weak.
Or I was taught in school - USSR was military giant but economical midget. Well, long are those days of Mighty Soviet Union, what's leftover? Russia and 14 other former Soviet republics. Let's see what has changed in last 24 years in terms of economy.
Gross Domestic Product in FSU 2013
| 2012 $ (bln) | 2013 $ (bln) | Growth $ (bln) | Growth % | % of Total GDP | |
| Russia | 2017.470 | 2096.777 | 79.307 | 3.93 | 72.53 |
| Kazakhstan | 203.517 | 224.414 | 20.897 | 10.26 | 7.76 |
| Ukraine | 176.603 | 177.430 | 0.827 | 0.46 | 6.13 |
| Azerbaijan | 68.730 | 73.560 | 4.830 | 7.02 | 2.54 |
| Belarus | 63.615 | 71.709 | 8.094 | 12.72 | 2.48 |
| Uzbekistan | 51.183 | 56.795 | 5.612 | 10.96 | 1.96 |
| Lithuania | 42.343 | 43.829 | 1.486 | 3.5 | 1.51 |
| Turkmenistan | 35.164 | 41.850 | 6.686 | 19.01 | 1.44 |
| Latvia | 28.372 | 29.617 | 1.245 | 4.38 | 1.02 |
| Estonia | 22.376 | 24.476 | 2.100 | 9.38 | 0.84 |
| Georgia | 15.848 | 16.126 | 0.278 | 1.75 | 0.55 |
| Armenia | 9.958 | 10.432 | 0.474 | 4.75 | 0.36 |
| Tajikistan | 7.633 | 8.508 | 0.875 | 11.46 | 0.29 |
| Moldova | 7.284 | 7.935 | 0.651 | 8.93 | 0.27 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 6.605 | 7.226 | 0.621 | 9.4 | 0.24 |
| 2756.701 | 2890.684 | 133.983 | 4.860265948 | 100 |
Data source: World bank
In 2013, Gross Domestic Product of Former Soviet Union space totalled in $2.89 trillions with Russia taking it's lion share of 72.5% of it - which equals to $2.096 trillions.
Kazakhstan with 7.76% comes in second place, followed by Ukraine.
Russia together with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are so called natural resources rich countries, and lions share of their GDP comes from Oil and Gas.
In 2013 in terms of GDP there were 5 countries which GDP growth rate was 2 digit numbers: Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
Speaking of Baltic states which lead table by GDP per capita in Former Soviet Union space in 2013, we can see that compared by their overall economy they make modest 3.3% in total.
Ukraine, due to it's internal problems and possible default this year, has showed small, but still increase of 0.46%, speaking of this (2014) year it's awaited that Economy of Ukraine could shrink by 6-7%, although I believe this number must be much higher, due to fact that inflation in Ukraine this year already is 35%. Could EU/US aid could help Ukraine in coming years?
Other two countries seeking closer ties with EU - Moldova and Georgia experienced growth as well. Small growth (1.75%) for Georgia, impressive growth for Moldova (8.9%).
Today it was announced that Russia, despite the sanctions from side of EU/US is seeking for 6% growth for next years - Russia is looking to diversify it's economic ties - this time looking to East - China, India and other Asian countries.
Some claim - that Russia could go in deep recession in future years - but personally I doubt that. I'm 60% sure, Russia will reach $3 trillion mark by end of this decade - it's about 30% growth in next 6 years.
What we can learn from this table, except some statistical data? The growth in former Soviet space is obvious - 4.86% in 2013 is pretty large. There are 3 economies having more than $100 billion by GDP in 2013 - Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. According to IMF forecast Azerbaijan could join the 100B club by 2019.