They call it natural riches for a reason. If Mother Nature was generous to a country, it seems that its people have nothing to worry about – they will thrive. But reality brings this vision to the ground: often, the more commodities a country has, the slower its economy grows.

Some resource dependent countries manage to improve situation by diversifying their economies. Others succeed in becoming wealthy without much diversification. How, you may ask. Is the resource curse real? Why does it weigh upon some countries but fails to prevent development of others? It is about more than economy itself, argues in ‘Economics Out Loud’ podcast Gerhard Toews, professor of the New Economic School, who specializes in natural resource economics. The podcast special guest Vladimir Drebentsov, chief advisor to the director general of the Russian Energy Agency and former chief economist for Russia and CIS in BP, presents his opinion on how Russia can participate in the energy transition that can rip it off significant part of the oil and gas revenues.