Emigration, plus with spiralling rates of alcoholism, a falling birthrate and shorter life expectancy, are driving down Russia's population. In 1990 it stood at 148m. By October it was 145.7m. With the nouveaux super-rich exporting their wealth to the safety of hard currency accounts in the west, there are few signs of investment for economic recovery in cities such as Murmansk. The private kiosks may be full of food but secondhand Volkswagens and Ford Sierras mingle with elderly Ladas, Trabants and Fiat Polskas on the roads.
Prostitutes mill around near large hotels.
The smell of incinerated oil hangs in the cold air. In the past, people came to the Arctic for 10 or 15 years for the extra cash. Many of them are going now. Most consider themselves to be from somewhere else in Russia. The trend is pronounced across Russia's north-west.