If Moscow’s increasing assertiveness had been buoyed by oil prices surging to $145 per barrel, the crisis was a severe setback. By the end of 2008 oil prices had plunged, reaching their nadir at $34 on December 21. With natural resource rents accounting for 20 percent of Russian GDP, the impact of the commodity price crash was devastating. Tax revenue per metric ton of oil fell by 80 percent.
