Aven Petr - Gaidars revolution: the inside account of the economic transformation of Russia

A fter the collapse of the Soviet Union, a team of young economic reformers led by Yegor Gaidar worked to create a new economic future for Russia. Against an overwhelming threat of looming hunger and civil war, they created a market economy which is still in place today. In the face of crisis, a process of shock therapy involving the end of price regulation, the introduction of privatization and a reduction in public spending appeared necessary. Their plans have been the subject of controversy ever since the path to the new economy was not smooth and Russia continued to struggle with economic crises throughout the 1990s. Yet Gaidars plans have been widely praised for saving the country from complete collapse.

For the fi rst time in this book, the participants in the process reveal their experiences during those frantic days, their insights into Yegor Gaidar and of the formation of post-Soviet Russia. In doing so, Gaidars Revolution provides a unique perspective on contemporary Russia, making it an indispensable resource for understanding its economic and political complexities.

New edition published in 2015 by

I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd

London New York

www.ibtauris.com

First Published in the United States in 2013 by The Gaidar Foundation

Copyright 2013 Petr Aven & Alfred Kokh

Translation Copyright 2013 Petr Aven & Alfred Kokh

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978 1 78453 122 5

eISBN: 978 0 85773 958 2

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

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Petr Aven is a Russian banker and economist who served as Minister of Foreign Economic Relations for the Russian Federation (19912). He holds a PhD in Economics from Moscow State University and is now Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alfa Bank, Russias largest commercial bank. He is a trustee of the Centre for Economic Policy Research and a member of the Board of Directors of the New Economic School in Moscow.

Alfred Kokh is a writer and economist who was a Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation in the 1990s and a chief architect of Russias privatization. He holds a PhD in Economics from the St Petersburg Mathematics and Economics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and is the author of A Crate of Vodka: An Insider View on the 20 Years That Shaped Modern Russia and The Selling of the Soviet Empire: Politics and Economics of Russias Privatization .

Aven and Kokh provide a fascinating history of the second Russian revolution of 198992, as told by participants to participants, and focusing on the central role of Yegor Gaidar. Even the most imaginative novelist could not match the drama and clash of personalities as vividly as these interviews.

William Nordhaus, Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University

In 19903 Russia was transformed from a centrally planned to a market economy (with Russian characteristics) a period of economic and political turbulence for all involved. This fascinating book records, through interviews two decades later, the recollections, reflections, and re-evaluations of key leaders in that dramatic transformation. A remarkable collection.

Richard N. Cooper, Professor of Economics, Harvard University

This fascinating book records the recollections and ideas of the key participants in Russias attempts at market reforms, with a special focus on the central role of the brilliant and cunning Yegor Gaidar. For anyone who lived through these reforms without the benefit of hindsight, or who has studied what went right and what did not, the key players and events jump off the page with action and insight. No one ever knows all of history. This oral history allows us to know far more than we have to date.

David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF)