Conflicting viewpoints about Russian current growth and future growth rates. Goldman Sachs predicts Russia is in danger of slowing to a 3 percent growth rate, obviously much lower than government forecasts. On the other side, Finance Minister Kudrin stated the Russian economy was growing too fast as evidenced by infrastructure that can’t keep up, labor shortages in certain areas, and accelerating inflation rates. We’re inclined to believe in the Kudrin viewpoint for the foreseeable future, as energy and other commodity prices continue to be the rock the economy is built upon and other industries show promise.