"I believe Russia will not fall apart, but I am almost certain that we will arrive at a social crisis," Andrei Klepach, the chief economist of VEB.RF, was quoted as saying.

Shocking news:

Andrei Klepach, the chief economist at Russian state development corporation VEB.RF, was reportedly fired on Aug. 16, a day after Russian media widely circulated his warnings that Russia was losing its economic and technological competition with the West.