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from the article: "No matter how large or populated, a country with GDP comparable to that of Australia cannot afford to play at being a superpower, fight a protracted war in Syria and develop its own stealth fighter."

OK, let's start here...

According to public information from the CIA, Austrailia's GDP at $1.2 trillion is ranked #19 in the world.
Russia, at $3.8 trillion is #6, compared to the USA at $19 trillion #2 behind only China.

So right away, this article deals in the realm of hyperbole, not facts.

from the article: "The last hope for the project was the serious Indian interest in financing the conversion of the Su-57 into a stealth strike fighter in the class of the Su-30MKI."

Now we come to the heart of this matter.
Russians aren't really working alone, they've partnered-up with Indians -- the worlds #3 economy at $9 trillion GDP.
Russia plus India partnered = $13 trillion GDP, which you'd think enough to finance an exotic new fighter plane.

Note the Russia/Indian Su-30MKI -- Russians have built 240 for the Indians and that's what's interested them in a stealth version, the SU-57:

current Russia/Indian Su-30MKI -- new Russian SU=57:

The cost to India of their current SU-30MKI's is put at $56 million per.
The cost to produce the new stealth SU-57 is put at $50 million per.
The cost of the US F-22 Raptor is put at $150 million per, possibly explaining the Indians' interest in Russian aircraft.

US F-22 Raptor:

The CIA figures that you rely on are for GDP measured in purchasing power parity converted to US dollars, with Russian GDP estimated in 2016 to be $3.862 trillion, or about three times as large as Australia's $1.283 trillion GDP.

In contrast, based on official exchange rates, the CIA figures list Russia and Australia as having similar GDP in 2016: $1.188 trillion (Russia) to $1.262 trillion (Australia)(2016 estimate).

Purchasing power parity is based on a market basket of goods and services priced around the world. While intuitively appealing, it is not at all clear that in this instance the PPP concept should be preferred. Nominal accounting seems to fit better because a cutting edge fighter aircraft is a long term project.

In any event, the author's point is surely valid. Russia's financial and technical resources are grossly inadequate to building the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter on the announced schedule -- and especially so without India participating in the project.