According to the State Statistics Committee, the average salary in Russia in 2005 was 8.53 thousand rubles ($302). Compared to the previous year, it increased by 23%. And in December 2005, it even reached 11,075 rubles ($393). Thus, in this indicator among the countries of the former USSR, Russia is inferior to Estonia, where the economy has shown strong growth after joining the EU, Lithuania and Latvia. The difference with the first is $200. The average monthly salary of full-time employees in the third quarter of last year in Estonia was 7,786 kroons ($593).
Lithuania follows Estonia, lagging by $100. The average monthly salary in the country is 1.2 thousand litas (about $460). In Latvia, the average gross salary was 248 lats, or about $430. However, 'black' salaries are widespread in Latvia, so the actual money earned by the population may be significantly higher.
Following the Baltic states and Russia comes Kazakhstan, where economic growth has led to a significant improvement in the social situation. Over the year, the average salary was 34,066 tenge, or $260. In December 2005, the average monthly nominal salary of one worker was 44,956 tenge, which equals $342.
Ukraine and Belarus follow Kazakhstan. Over 2005, the average salary in Ukraine was 1,126 hryvnias, or $220. The Ministry of Statistics and Analysis of the Republic of Belarus, in turn, released data according to which the accrued average salary of workers in the Republic of Belarus for the entire year was 461 thousand rubles ($214). But in December 2005, it increased to 562,189 rubles, which equals $261.
Of the three Transcaucasian republics of the CIS, Azerbaijan is the best off. There, the average nominal salary at the end of 2005 was 127 manats, or about $140. For Moldova, not long ago recognized as the poorest country in Europe, the following data are known: in the public sector, the average earnings were 981 lei ($78), but in the non-public sector, the average salary reached 1,521 lei ($121). In Armenia, the average monthly nominal salary is 52,066 drams ($115).
The remaining countries do not reach $100 per month. In January-November 2005, the nominal average monthly salary in Kyrgyzstan was 2,481 soms – about $60. In Uzbekistan, where no official statistical data on this issue are provided, the average salary according to independent estimates is 70,500 sums ($60), and only Tashkent is taken into account; across the country as a whole, salaries are even lower.
In Georgia, the average salary is 90 lari, or $50 (official data). In Turkmenistan, according to unofficial data, the average salary is about $40 per month. The worst situation is in Tajikistan – the average salary there equals 115 somoni ($28).