We've been hearing for years that Putin is on his deathbed, too. It seems there are a lot of people guessing and writing articles about what they're guessing.
Maybe you ought to read the article. Or a few of the articles.
At this stage, according to the numbers presented here, Russia would have to increase taxes on oil to about 115% of the exports (not the profit, the total exports) in order to balance the national budget. These numbers are well attested. They've been growing worse and worse for a long while and as the number 115% shows, they are really very bad now.
When did the Russian economy's problem become bad and how much later did they increase from bad to terrible? Matter of opinion, but if you've been hearing about it for years, that's because it took a long time to get as bad as those 115% indicate.
Arnt|12 days ago
At this stage, according to the numbers presented here, Russia would have to increase taxes on oil to about 115% of the exports (not the profit, the total exports) in order to balance the national budget. These numbers are well attested. They've been growing worse and worse for a long while and as the number 115% shows, they are really very bad now.
When did the Russian economy's problem become bad and how much later did they increase from bad to terrible? Matter of opinion, but if you've been hearing about it for years, that's because it took a long time to get as bad as those 115% indicate.