They were heading to being economic heavyweights until they were derailed by some bright American petroleum engineers who figured out horizontal drilling and "fracking". And you can be sure that the "anti-fracking" eco-nutcase temper tantrum has its roots in Russia. They succeeded in doing the same thing to America's attempt to utilize fission nuclear energy.
Last year they were caught using offshore shell companies to funnel money to anti-fracking propaganda.
Here is one story about it - https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/07/anti-fracking-groups-russia-secret-funding-protects-kremlin-interests/