Where is Russia Heading?
” Yegor Gaidar, former Prime Minister of Russia, Deputy of the State Duma, co-chairman of the Union of Right Forces, and Director of the Institute for the Economy in Transition in Moscow, is uniquely qualified to answer this daunting question. Over the past year, the pace of economic reform in Russia has exceeded even Dr. Gaidar’s high expectations. The implementation of the flat tax has been an unqualified success and income tax revenues have grown an astonishing 2.1 times in nominal terms (1.7 times in real terms), largely due to a decrease in tax evasion. The flat tax is now secure. Yet, Dr. Gaidar chose not to dwell on the many achievements of the past year but to focus on the risks awaiting Russia. First, the pace of reform in Russia has become unsustainable. As the next Russian election cycle gets underway, the energy and enthusiasm for reform is waning. Reforms in the banking sector, natural monopolies, municipal finance, the military and a host of other fields will not be carri
Russia’s energy-fuelled economic boom of recent years has placed it firmly back amongst the world’s most powerful nations, and the nation goes to the polls on December 2 to elect the State Duma. The result appears almost inevitable – a landslide victory for the Putin-supported United Russia party and a continuation of the ‘Putin plan’. Will there be any new powerbrokers and what does this mean for Russia and for the international community? Is the popular support for Vladimir Putin as vast as it seems? Do Western criticisms of the Kremlin on human rights and the democratic process have any effect? What are the implications of Putin’s move back towards central economic planning? Internationally, will Russia change the way it deals with the nations to which it supplies gas and oil? What about its attitude on Iran, China, missile defence and Kosovo, among other issues? Dmitri Trenin, Senior Associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Moscow, answered your questions live
