Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia on December 31, 1999, elevating Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Acting President six months before scheduled elections. The succession had been carefully engineered by Yeltsin’s oligarchic allies, known as ’the family,’ who began …
Boris YeltsinVladimir PutinBoris BerezovskyVladimir GusinskyMikhail Khodorkovsky+2 morerussiaputinyeltsinoligarchskleptocracy+5 more
Vladimir Putin was appointed Prime Minister by Boris Yeltsin on August 9, 1999, marking a pivotal moment in Russia’s political transformation. At the time virtually unknown to the public, Putin was strategically positioned as Yeltsin’s potential successor. His appointment was part of a …
Vladimir PutinBoris Yeltsinputinpower-consolidationappointmentrussiapolitical-succession
The Russian government under Premier Sergei Kiriyenko announced a sovereign debt default, devaluation of the ruble, and a 90-day moratorium on commercial external debt payments, marking the climax of Russia’s most serious economic crisis since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Three days after …
Boris YeltsinSergei KiriyenkoInternational Monetary FundCentral Bank of RussiaRussian Governmentrussiafinancial-crisissovereign-defaultshock-therapyimf+4 more
Boris Yeltsin won re-election as President of Russia in a stunning comeback victory engineered and bankrolled by a coalition of seven oligarchs who became known as the ‘Semibankirshchina’ (seven-banker outfit). Despite approval ratings below 10% earlier in the year, Yeltsin defeated …
Boris YeltsinBoris BerezovskyMikhail KhodorkovskyVladimir GusinskyVladimir Potanin+3 morerussiaoligarchssemibankirshchinaelectionsyeltsin+4 more
The Russian government under President Boris Yeltsin implemented the ’loans-for-shares’ privatization scheme between November and December 1995, auctioning twelve of Russia’s most profitable industrial enterprises—including mining, steel, shipping, and oil companies—to a small …
Boris YeltsinVladimir PotaninMikhail KhodorkovskyBoris BerezovskyRoman Abramovich+3 morerussiaoligarchsloans-for-sharesprivatizationcorruption+5 more
The International Monetary Fund approved a $6.8 billion loan to Russia, the second largest loan the IMF had made at the time, following years of failed stabilization efforts and broken conditionality requirements. This was followed by an agreement in 1996 to provide a total of $10.2 billion over …
International Monetary FundBoris YeltsinBill ClintonG-7World Bank+1 moreimfrussiastructural-adjustmentconditionalityshock-therapy+4 more
Russia launched the world’s largest privatization program, distributing vouchers worth 10,000 rubles each to approximately 148 million citizens, enabling the privatization of over 15,000 medium and large enterprises. The program was designed and implemented by Anatoly Chubais, chairman of the …
Anatoly ChubaisBoris YeltsinState Committee for State Property ManagementRussian Governmentrussiaprivatizationshock-therapyoligarchswealth-transfer+4 more
Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered the liberalization of foreign trade, prices, and currency, launching the radical ‘shock therapy’ economic transformation designed by Deputy Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, a 35-year-old liberal economist advised by Harvard’s Jeffrey Sachs. The …
Boris YeltsinYegor GaidarJeffrey SachsHarvard UniversityInternational Monetary Fund+1 moreshock-therapyrussiashock-doctrineneoliberalismprivatization+5 more
Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs became a formal economic advisor to Boris Yeltsin’s economic team in December 1991, after Yegor Gaidar—soon to be acting Prime Minister—contacted him in September requesting he come to Moscow to discuss Russia’s economic crisis. At that stage, Russia faced …
Jeffrey SachsBoris YeltsinMikhail GorbachevYegor GaidarGeorge H.W. Bush+3 morerussiajeffrey-sachsharvardshock-therapyforeign-policy+4 more