Russian Economy

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- President Clinton an Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin began their summit here yesterday, immediately tackling the two momentous issues they face: how much western investment in Russia is prudent, and how Mr. Yeltsin will gain enough control over the Russian economy so that the West can fulfill its promises of financial help.Even before Mr. Clinton landed from Portland, Ore., the agenda was spelled out in a brief news conference featuring Mr. Yeltsin and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who praised Mr. Yeltsin for all he has done so far."

Today, a little over a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the gross domestic product of Russia, the major heir of the Soviet Union, is roughly that of Brazil or the Netherlands. What happened? Few topics have resulted in more controversy among international economists and scholars. Some claim that the decline was predictable because of the marked inefficiencies of the Soviet economy, and that blame can be laid entirely on the Russians themselves for "losing" their own economy.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- President Clinton came here yesterday offering Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin some $1 billion in U.S. assistance -- a down payment on much larger Western investment, provided Mr. Yeltsin can do his part."

RUSSIA'S CALL for the continuation of the U.N. inspection system in Iraq illustrates the central principles of Russian policymaking during the Iraqi crisis - prolong it as long as possible so as to keep oil prices high while at the same time doing the minimum damage to Russian-American relations. As long as oil prices remain over $25 per barrel (the price is now about $35 a barrel) the government of President Vladimir Putin will, as a major oil exporter, have sufficient revenue to keep the Russian economy moving ahead rapidly.

One month after "Black Tuesday" -- the day the Russian Ruble fell 24 percent -- President Boris Yeltsin's answer to the debacle has been still another purge of high government officials. There also has been dark talk that the government was a victim of conspiracy. The more compelling explanation: Stupidity.All summer long, Moscow printing presses were churning out excess rubles to satisfy demands for subsidies from near-defunct state industries, from communities established long ago by Stalin in un-viable northern reaches and, especially, from an agriculture sector that still includes too many huge and inefficient state farms.

COLLEGE PARK -- American businesses are lagging behind those in all other industrialized nations in expanding their enterprises into Russia, economists agreed at a U.S.-Russia trade conference here yesterday.The U.S. is exercising perhaps too much caution in initiating business ventures in Russia, while Japan, South Korea and several European nations are off to a quick start, according to Russian government officials and U.S. economists. The conference, held the University of Maryland, examined environmental issues and banking reform in the former Soviet Union.

STROBE Talbott, U.S. ambassador at large to the former Soviet Union, faults the International Monetary Fund for inflicting too much shock and not enough therapy. The criticism is accurate, but rings hollow. The IMF is merely carrying out the policy of its most influential patron, the United States of America.That policy holds that recovery of the Russian economy requires rapid dismantling or sale of state-owned industry and budget and currency reform -- all intended to apply the necessarily harsh discipline of the marketplace.

RUSSIA'S CALL for the continuation of the U.N. inspection system in Iraq illustrates the central principles of Russian policymaking during the Iraqi crisis - prolong it as long as possible so as to keep oil prices high while at the same time doing the minimum damage to Russian-American relations. As long as oil prices remain over $25 per barrel (the price is now about $35 a barrel) the government of President Vladimir Putin will, as a major oil exporter, have sufficient revenue to keep the Russian economy moving ahead rapidly.

It's easy to see why President Clinton is so eager to travel to Moscow May 9 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the World War II Allied victory. Compared to President Boris N. Yeltsin's 6 percent approval rate in the latest Russian poll, Mr. Clinton's modest popularity at home seems downright staggering.Throughout its often sad history, Russia has been a nation of grumblers. A Russian proverb captures this tendency: "Happiness is like a hunch in the back; it is heavy to bear."Many Russians have ample reasons to complain.

MOSCOW -- A good number of the Russian legislators who reconvened yesterday for what promises to be a noisy session are out for Yegor T. Gaidar's scalp, but the shiny-cheeked acting prime minister stood up before them and immediately went on the attack.Yes, he said, the Russian economy is going sour in a hurry -- inflation is picking up speed again and the ruble went straight south against the dollar yesterday -- but he argued that it's precisely because the government slowed down its reforms last summer under pressure from its opponents.

WASHINGTON - President Bush will hold an earlier-than-planned first meeting with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin next month in Slovenia to discuss touchy subjects such as missile defense, human rights, Russia's economy and Moscow's arms sales to Iran, officials said yesterday. Meeting almost nonstop with Bush and other U.S. officials yesterday to lay the groundwork for the summit, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said at a news conference that "we're convinced that the upcoming summit will become a major threshold in the relationship between our two countries."

MOSCOW -- Because of its towering, glimmering-green headquarters here, Russia's sprawling and powerful natural gas monopoly came to be known to admirers and critics alike as the Emerald City.And its boss, Rem Vyakhirev, was the Wizard.Vyakhirev himself said he liked the image. Gazprom, as the company is more formally known, became a domain unto itself in post-Soviet Russia, a Land of Oz that made the mighty tremble and left plain folks in awe. It dictated to the government and vaulted Vyakhirev, a grandfatherly lover of fishing and Russian folk songs who once wanted nothing more than to run away to sea, into the ranks of the tycoons who sat at the heart of Russia's peculiar capitalism.

Stock markets around the world were jolted yesterday by Russia's failing economy and rumors of President Boris N. Yeltsin's resignation, which sparked near-panic selling of stocks.Those fears were compounded by concerns that a plan to bail out Japan's troubled economy has hit a wall, and that American banks and corporations will suffer if both countries don't resolve their problems soon.The Dow Jones industrial average slid 357.36 points, or 4.19 percent, to 8,165.99, marking its third-largest point loss in history.

It's easy to see why President Clinton is so eager to travel to Moscow May 9 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the World War II Allied victory. Compared to President Boris N. Yeltsin's 6 percent approval rate in the latest Russian poll, Mr. Clinton's modest popularity at home seems downright staggering.Throughout its often sad history, Russia has been a nation of grumblers. A Russian proverb captures this tendency: "Happiness is like a hunch in the back; it is heavy to bear."Many Russians have ample reasons to complain.

One month after "Black Tuesday" -- the day the Russian Ruble fell 24 percent -- President Boris Yeltsin's answer to the debacle has been still another purge of high government officials. There also has been dark talk that the government was a victim of conspiracy. The more compelling explanation: Stupidity.All summer long, Moscow printing presses were churning out excess rubles to satisfy demands for subsidies from near-defunct state industries, from communities established long ago by Stalin in un-viable northern reaches and, especially, from an agriculture sector that still includes too many huge and inefficient state farms.

WASHINGTON -- Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin arrived in the United States yesterday for a weeklong visit that in some ways, one Clinton administration official quipped, harks back to "the good old days" of the Cold War.For the first time in the Clinton presidency, the discussions won't be dominated by how to prop up the Russian economy -- and on the awkward and related matter of where Mr. Yeltsin can lay his hands on billions of dollars in U.S. aid."It's...

President Clinton's visit to Russia last week caused less stir than once greeted Western leaders. Many Russians were eager to meet the new president, but more memorable than the photo ops were the street scenes from Moscow depicting ordinary Russians preoccupied with the twin trials of winter and economic turmoil.Many of the grim faces belonged to women, who in Russia (as in many societies) shoulder most of the day-to-day burdens of keeping a household running. Much of the talk about the Russian economy these days focuses on the ratio of shock to therapy in pushing along the economy.

Today, a little over a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the gross domestic product of Russia, the major heir of the Soviet Union, is roughly that of Brazil or the Netherlands. What happened? Few topics have resulted in more controversy among international economists and scholars. Some claim that the decline was predictable because of the marked inefficiencies of the Soviet economy, and that blame can be laid entirely on the Russians themselves for "losing" their own economy.

President Clinton's visit to Russia last week caused less stir than once greeted Western leaders. Many Russians were eager to meet the new president, but more memorable than the photo ops were the street scenes from Moscow depicting ordinary Russians preoccupied with the twin trials of winter and economic turmoil.Many of the grim faces belonged to women, who in Russia (as in many societies) shoulder most of the day-to-day burdens of keeping a household running. Much of the talk about the Russian economy these days focuses on the ratio of shock to therapy in pushing along the economy.

STROBE Talbott, U.S. ambassador at large to the former Soviet Union, faults the International Monetary Fund for inflicting too much shock and not enough therapy. The criticism is accurate, but rings hollow. The IMF is merely carrying out the policy of its most influential patron, the United States of America.That policy holds that recovery of the Russian economy requires rapid dismantling or sale of state-owned industry and budget and currency reform -- all intended to apply the necessarily harsh discipline of the marketplace.