For the Russians, it came down to "We pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us."
Until the collapse. Since things are always changing it never stays. It start very badly and go well in the end. Could start with promise and go south. Could be some parts of the country handle and some collapse. One thing that you can count on: it’ll be interesting. This is a big change to the basic fabric of society, and it comes with cool toys.