Alarming statistics emerging from Russia show that only 2% of the country’s corporate profits from its largest companies originate from outside the oil and gas industries. 

In a list compiled by the RBC news agency of the 500 biggest Russian companies, of which their combined revenues equal 77% of the country’s economic output, it was found that 98% of net profits came from the largest energy and energy related companies.

The statistics highlight the challenge Russia faces if it is to diversify its economy away from oil and gas. This is what many in Russia hope will be the consequence from the currency crisis that has made imports into the country so expensive.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently said that energy prices could remain low for some time and the country should look for new sources of investment within the economy. As far back as 2009, he released a piece in one of the national newspapers stating that commodity exchanges must not determine Russia’s fate.

Russia’s economy will almost certainly continue to contract if oil continues to hover around the $50 dollar mark.