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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Anticipating a Hurricane

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

Everybody talks about the crisis this fall in Russia. Even the sudden short hurricane that swept over Moscow did not crowd the topic off the front pages. Yes, an economic tornado may cause more damage than the elements, the more so as no one will blame the consequences on inaccurate weather forecasts (as did Mayor Yuri Luzhkov the day after the hurricane, saying the weather people had missed it). The economic crisis is there for everyone to see. Even Mr. Chubais was reinstated, yet no one is sure the state will emerge from the coming hurricane in one piece or, most importantly, that the government will survive it. We in Ukraine also anticipate another crisis, but we have reasons and our conscience is comparatively clean. We know what our reforms are all about, everyone does, from the little old ladies begging in the street to the President addressing a concerned message to a nation which is stuck in the past. But Russia! They had Gaidar, and they still have Chubais (and we had Lazarenko), yet they have such foreboding...

Only now can one notice how half-way the Russian reforms really were. One step forward, two steps back. Such was Chernomyrdin’s much advertised stability. Mr. Chernomyrdin was lucky to be asked to step down at an early stage, so that now Sergei Kiriyenko will be the martyr. However, this will not alter the biggest problem: Russia’s economy with its unfinished reforms and corporate spirit, total corruption, bureaucratic dictatorship, and oligarchic onslaught. They acted boldly, much bolder than we did, but not as bold as in the Czech Republic or Poland. Those championing such half-way reforms said the main thing is to destroy the Stalinist economy and launch new economic vehicles, and never mind who is warming himself by the fire. And then we will rely on the usual Russian hit-or-miss tactic.

Well, what are they saying now, facing the economic tornado?

 

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