The calabash or bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria (synonym Lagenaria vulgaris Ser.), also known as opo squash or long melon, is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable, or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe.
He was lucky on the economic front. Oil and gas make up 16 percent of Russiaâs GDP, 52 percent of its budget, and more than 70 percent of its exports, and oil climbed in the 2000s from $24 to $100 per barrel. Mr. Putin used the money to reduce poverty and modernize the military.
When Mikhail Gorbachev assumed power of the Soviet Union in 1985, he instituted the policies of glasnost and perestroika in hopes of sparking the sluggish economy. What resulted from this taste of freedom was the revolution that ended the Cold War. That summer, a coup by conservative hardliners took place.