“Siberia feels like it just serves Moscow’s money needs”, says Trifonova. “It’s a wealthy area with lots of oil and gas, but locals don’t benefit much. It feels like we have a gold mine, but others benefit from it.”
The journalist criticizes that gas from the big Kovykta field in Siberia is sold cheaply to China, but places like Irkutsk and Buryatia don’t get this gas. “Building a system here doesn’t make money for Gazprom [Russia’s state gas organization], even though the gas is from our land”, Trifonova says.
Isn’t it generally universal for rural areas to dislike the capital?
Maybe, but normally the rural areas arent exploited like colonies, at least not this much.
People from Siberia are also sent to Ukraine in higher rates than people from Moscow.