#...Gridlock and Gold Porches
Российская действительность глазами Foreign Policy. Фото-эссе называется "Gridlock and Gold Porsches". Анотация звучит так "On Russia's crowded streets the gulf between rich and poor has never been bigger"... Надеюсь понятно без слов. По-фотографиям и без комментариев смысл улавливается.
The disparity between Russia's rich and poor is perhaps nowhere more obvious than on the country's urban streets, where traffic jams snarl both diamond-studded sports cars and Soviet-era clunkers. Forget the global economic crisis: Russia's car owners seem to suffer from an obsession with the fast and the luxurious. In 2010 alone, luxury car sales rose 30.5 percent. (с) Victor Bergmann via Flickr
Above, a Porsche 911 Cabriolet coated in 40 pounds of gold. The extravagant vehicle, estimated at $600,000, was reportedly stolen briefly in April 2009 after a man who claimed to be a prospective buyer drove off after taking the car for a "test spin" around the block.
According to a 2010 IBM study, Moscow suffers from the longest traffic jams of any major world city. In Dec. 2009, the average Muscovite spent 20 hours sitting in traffic -- and a grand total of seven days that year. (с) EyesWideOpen/Getty Images
An elderly woman begs next to a Mercedes-Benz in Moscow. While Moscow boasts 79 billionaires, more than any other city, poverty remains a critical issue with 13 percent of the Russian population, or 18.5 million people, under the poverty line. Over the past ten years, Mercedes sales have increased ten times over, making it the leading premium brand in Russia. (с) ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images
Moscow's nouveau riche aren't exactly shy about showing off their wealth. Above, a $300,000 chrome-plated Mercedes-McLaren SLR is unveiled at the Millionaire Fair in October 2009 in Moscow. (с) Konstantin Zavrazhin/Getty Images
The number of cars in Moscow has jumped from 60 per 1,000 residents in 1991 to 350 per 1,000 residents in 2009. As Muscovites ditch their Ladas and Volgas for new imports, the infrastructure just can't keep up with the volume of drivers. Over the next decade, $285 billion will be spent to double the rate of road construction. (с) YELENA PALM/AFP/Getty Images
In 2010, the hottest summer in Russian history, wildfires ravaged the western portion of the country, killing 52 people. Above, a man sits on a car destroyed by the flames in the village of Kriusha. Thick smog engulfed Moscow for several weeks starting in July, slowing traffic even more than usual. (с) ARTYOM KOROTAYEV/AFP/Getty Images
Traditionally, the world's largest and most important auto shows have been held in Detroit, Paris, and Frankfurt. But today, automakers go where the money is: Firms from 12 nations presented over 600 cars at the Moscow International Automobile show in August last year. Above, a model introduces a Peugeot concept car, marking the company's 200th anniversary. (с) Alexey SAZONOV/AFP/Getty Images
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joined Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in the St. Petersburg-Kiev motor race on Sept. 17, 2010. Both presidents drove a section of the race in vintage cars across the Russia-Ukraine border.
Above, Medvedev steps out of a Soviet-era Zaporozhets. (с) DMITRY ASTAKHOV/AFP/Getty Images
In May 2005, a freak power outage saw much of Moscow lose power -- including 236 stoplights. Traffic jams ran for miles, paralyzing the city. (с) DENIS SINYAKOV/AFP/Getty Images
Luxury car sales in Russia boomed in 2010, rising 30.5 percent, with Rolls-Royce sales skyrocketing 300 percent from 2009 to 2010. But being rich doesn't make you smart. Above, Russian rescuers struggle to retrieve a Lexus SUV from slipping into the Gulf of Finland's icy waters in St. Petersburg. (с) SERGEY KULIKOV/AFP/Getty Images
In 2009, a Russian firm produced what was arguably the world's most expensive -- and hideous -- new production vehicle. The Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond, which retails at $1.5 million, sports gold-plated widows and diamond-adorned gauges. The seats were originally going to be upholstered in real whale penis (seriously), but after the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace protested, that option was removed. It also comes with three bottles of Russo-Baltique, the world's most expensive vodka, which is bottled in bulletproof glass. For the car, bulletproof wouldn't do, though: the manufacturer claims the vehicle itself is rocket-proof.
A stretch Hummer limousine pulls up next to the Cathedral of Saint Basil in Moscow. (с) EyesWideOpen/Getty Images
A Soviet-era Lada at night near the Kremlin Palace in Moscow. (с) EyesWideOpen/Getty Images