Dark days for brightly painted Russian doll

The Russian nesting doll, the pride of a nation, is in trouble.

For more than 200 years, the matryoshka has come to symbolise Russian handicraft at its finest, the brightly-painted dolls within dolls also revealing something of the mystery and complexity of the famed Russian soul. Today, as the country suffers its worst economic crisis in a decade, it appears no industry is immune.

"Without government support, pretty soon those businesses that now make goods with a multi-century history will disappear from the face of the earth," said Oleg Korotkov, general director of Semyonovskaya Painting, one of Russia's top handicraft makers.

Matryoshka makers have spoken of sales falling up to 90 per cent, as the economic crisis brings fewer tourists to Russia and Russians at home find themselves with less cash to spare on frivolous items. That has led to firings and wage cuts across the handicraft industry, which employs an estimated 30,000 people in 240 companies.

A few weeks ago, the Government stepped in, saying it would place orders worth 1 billion roubles ($50.5 million) for nesting dolls and other handicrafts in a bid to rescue the industry. The plan, crafted by the Industry and Trade Ministry after a concerted appeal by handicraft makers, will see the Kremlin and various state agencies buy up dolls and dishes to hand out as gifts. But some warn that may not be enough.

The financial crisis first hit Russia last September and by November workshops at many matryoshka makers, centred around Nizhny Novgorod, the country's third largest city, fell silent. Production was slashed, and unsold dolls lined the shelves of the region's top handicraft makers.

The Khokhloma Painting Plant, the country's biggest matryoshka maker, sold around 100,000 nesting dolls last year, bringing in around $1.5 million, but this year it has slashed production to nearly half. For some, wages have been cut, from around $400 a month before the crisis to $150 today.

Recent optimism that Russia would soon plough its way out of the economic crisis has been quashed, as officials warn the country will likely see no growth until well into 2010, if not later.

- INDEPENDENT