In Ukraine, Volsky Finds A Sympathetic Audience
07 October 1992
By Robert Seely
KIEV - Arkady Volsky, the leading voice of the former Soviet Union's powerful industrial lobby directors, brought his alternative vision tor the post-communist economy to Ukraine Tuesday, finding fertile soil for many of his ideas.
Addressing a conference of industrialists and entrepreneurs in Kiev, Volsky presented a cohesive program of forceful state intervention mixed with reviving intergovernmental departments throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The transition to American-style capitalism, he said, would not work in Russia, Ukraine or any other Commonwealth state.
Ukraine should be fertile ground for Volsky's arguments, which many former Soviet managers find persuasive. Ukraine was home to the Soviet Union's second largest military industry after Russia.
The latest economic plan presented to Ukraine's parliament has much in common with Volsky's state-regulated approach to capitalism, including extensive state funding for enterprises.
Arguing that state ownership and the creation of wealth were not incompatible, Volsky, chairman of Russia's Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said: "State industry should work within the bounds of a market economy".
The organization sent an economic blueprint for Russia's economy to President Boris Yeltsin in mid-September, offering it as an alternative to the shock-therapy program of acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar and his young team of free-market reformers.
The blueprint has yet to be published in full, but Volsky's summary in Kiev proposed clawing back state power both in Russia and the Commonwealth. He urged that Russia and the Commonwealth's primary economic interests should be protected and proposed the creation of "basic funds to preserve basic assets in the economy".
Food prices and other basic commodities such as medicines should also be taken under the state's wing, he said.
Gaidar traveled to Kiev last week to repair damaged economic ties between the two countries. Russian enterprises now owe the Ukraine 224 billion rubles in unpaid bills, while Ukrainian firms owe their Russian suppliers 95 billion rubles.
Volsky painted an apocalyptic picture of the Russian economy that his Ukrainian audience, many of whom work in the military-industrial complex, would find all too familiar.
Reeling off a list statistics, Volsky said that Russia's oil output had declined by 17 percent, the circulation of commodities by 40 percent and exports by 50 percent. The same situation affected all of the former Soviet republics, he said, leading the countries "to the edge of hyper-inflation".
Volsky denied that he was calling for the return of Gosplan and other state planning agencies, although he argued in support of establishing a banking union between the countries. He said that none of the Commonwealth countries planning to introduce its own currencies - of which Ukraine is one - had a clear idea of how this was to happen.
Addressing a conference of industrialists and entrepreneurs in Kiev, Volsky presented a cohesive program of forceful state intervention mixed with reviving intergovernmental departments throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The transition to American-style capitalism, he said, would not work in Russia, Ukraine or any other Commonwealth state.
Ukraine should be fertile ground for Volsky's arguments, which many former Soviet managers find persuasive. Ukraine was home to the Soviet Union's second largest military industry after Russia.
The latest economic plan presented to Ukraine's parliament has much in common with Volsky's state-regulated approach to capitalism, including extensive state funding for enterprises.
Arguing that state ownership and the creation of wealth were not incompatible, Volsky, chairman of Russia's Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said: "State industry should work within the bounds of a market economy".
The organization sent an economic blueprint for Russia's economy to President Boris Yeltsin in mid-September, offering it as an alternative to the shock-therapy program of acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar and his young team of free-market reformers.
The blueprint has yet to be published in full, but Volsky's summary in Kiev proposed clawing back state power both in Russia and the Commonwealth. He urged that Russia and the Commonwealth's primary economic interests should be protected and proposed the creation of "basic funds to preserve basic assets in the economy".
Food prices and other basic commodities such as medicines should also be taken under the state's wing, he said.
Gaidar traveled to Kiev last week to repair damaged economic ties between the two countries. Russian enterprises now owe the Ukraine 224 billion rubles in unpaid bills, while Ukrainian firms owe their Russian suppliers 95 billion rubles.
Volsky painted an apocalyptic picture of the Russian economy that his Ukrainian audience, many of whom work in the military-industrial complex, would find all too familiar.
Reeling off a list statistics, Volsky said that Russia's oil output had declined by 17 percent, the circulation of commodities by 40 percent and exports by 50 percent. The same situation affected all of the former Soviet republics, he said, leading the countries "to the edge of hyper-inflation".
Volsky denied that he was calling for the return of Gosplan and other state planning agencies, although he argued in support of establishing a banking union between the countries. He said that none of the Commonwealth countries planning to introduce its own currencies - of which Ukraine is one - had a clear idea of how this was to happen.
|
|
Tweet |
|
This article has no comments. Be the first to leave a comment |
Discussion
Comments
To post comments you must be registered
Comments via Facebook
Most Read
1.
McFaul Faces Kremlin Scorn Once Again
The Foreign Ministry assailed U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul for comments the ministry said went "far beyond the bounds of diplomatic etiquette."
2.
Radio Journalist Stabbed Outside Apartment Building
A journalist for Mayak radio was clinging to life Tuesday after being stabbed outside his apartment building by an unknown attacker.
3.
Berezovsky Investigated for Inciting 'Mass Disorder'
The Investigative Committee has opened an inquiry against self-exiled businessman Boris Berezovsky, who recently pledged a $1.5 million bounty for the arrest of Vladimir Putin.
4.
Chernobyl Horror Film Called Disrespectful, A Joke
Horror film "Chernobyl Diaries," with its ghostly tale of terror near the infamous, abandoned nuclear plant hits theaters after protests that it sensationalizes a disaster that had tragic human consequences.
5.
Suspect Detained in Killing of Furniture Magnate
An alleged organizer of a murder of Russian furniture magnate Mikhail Kravchenko has been detained in the Moscow region.
6.
Ukraine's Behavior in WTO Has Negotiators Scratching Their Heads
Laos, a small nation dependent on aid and rice farming, wants to join the World Trade Organization. WTO powers including the United States, China and the European Union want it to.
7.
The Nixon Option for Iran
Boldness of the sort displayed by U.S. President Richard Nixon in opening discussions with China is needed now in the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
8.
$13.4Bln Football Bill Puts Ukraine in the Hole
Ukraine may never recover all of the billions of dollars it has spent to co-host next month's European football championship, and the outlay might complicate its chances of servicing its debt.
9.
Russky Island Getting Posh on Schedule
After global leaders conclude the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in September, the purpose-built $2.3 billion conference center on a remote island off the coast of Vladivostok will become a university.
10.
Rockets to Disperse Euro Rain Clouds
Ukraine is planning to fire rockets to break up rain clouds if bad weather threatens to upset football matches during next month's Euro 2012 tournament.
1.
Tabloid: Superjet Downed by U.S. Industrial Sabotage
A tabloid claims that Russian intelligence agencies are investigating the possibility that the U.S. military may have brought down the Sukhoi Superjet that crashed in Indonesia.
2.
Red Square Flyboy Regrets Air Stunt
When Mathias Rust landed his white Cessna on Red Square on May 28, 1987, he had placed all his hopes for world peace in Mikhail Gorbachev.
3.
Sweden Wins Eurovision; Grannies Take Second
Sweden’s Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan on Sunday before an international TV audience of 100 million, days after angering Azeri authorities by meeting rights activists critical of the host country’s human rights record.
4.
Village Grannies Make It to Eurovision Finals
Russia's group Buranovskiye Babushki has made it into the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan, bringing the elderly folk singers from a far-off Russian village to the attention of more than 100 million viewers around the world.
5.
McFaul Faces Kremlin Scorn Once Again
The Foreign Ministry assailed U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul for comments the ministry said went "far beyond the bounds of diplomatic etiquette."
6.
Protest and Chaos Seen in Kudrin-Ordered Study
Continued protests in Russia will likely lead to violence or chaotic change, according to a new study ordered by the former finance minister.
7.
Ukraine in Uproar Over Status of Russian Language
Ukraine's ruling party has triggered violent protests with a move to upgrade the official role of Russian, a sensitive issue opponents say will split the country.
8.
150 Detained at Anti-Kremlin Rallies
About 150 people were detained Sunday as scores of people gathered for a series of anti-government demonstrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
9.
Tensions Rise as Opposition Leaders are Freed
Sergei Udaltsov and Alexei Navalny emerged from prison Thursday, while a dramatic standoff erupted at a State Duma hearing over a bill that would hike fines for illegal demonstrations.
10.
More Public Figures Accused of Flouting Road Rules
Following the president's order to cut the number of officials entitled to use flashing lights to skirt through traffic, several incidents of alleged abuse involving high-profile figures have come to light.
1.
Hundreds of Arrests Set Grim Backdrop for Victory Day Celebrations
As Moscow gears up to celebrate its victory in World War II, 67 years ago Wednesday, the shadow of political conflict shrouds the capital as hundreds of arrests cloud Victory Day festivities.
2.
Russian Satellite Takes Highest-Ever Resolution Picture of Earth
A stunning 121-megapixel snapshot of the Earth was taken by a Russian weather satellite in what is thought to be the highest resolution picture of the planet ever taken from space.
3.
Bodies, No Survivors Spotted at Superjet Crash
Search and rescue helicopters and volunteers struggling through thick forest and mountainous terrain spotted bodies but no survivors on the Indonesian mountainside where a Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed by the time darkness forced an end to the search Thursday night.
4.
Mysterious Photos Reveal an Unseen WWII
After the end of World War II, Paul Sadler returned home to Chicago with three German books and a photo album from the Dachau concentration camp.
5.
Tabloid: Superjet Downed by U.S. Industrial Sabotage
A tabloid claims that Russian intelligence agencies are investigating the possibility that the U.S. military may have brought down the Sukhoi Superjet that crashed in Indonesia.
6.
Furniture Magnate Shot Dead in Mercedes in Moscow Region
A 46-year-old furniture magnate was killed with six gunshot wounds to the head and chest early Sunday as he arrived in his Mercedes at his home in the Moscow region.
7.
Vladivostok Bridge Climbers Fined 300 Rubles Each
Three thrill-seekers who climbed two Vladivostok bridges earlier this week and took photos from the top were fined 300 rubles ($10) each for trespassing.
8.
New Cabinet Has Familiar Cast of Characters
President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced the makeup of the new Cabinet answering to Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, with three-fourths of the members having been replaced.
9.
Superjet Missing in Indonesia With 50 on Board
A dark cloud was cast Wednesday on the revival of Russia’s aviation industry when a Sukhoi-built Superjet 100 with 50 people on board disappeared from the radar screens of Indonesian flight controllers.
10.
Why Putin's Days Are Numbered
On Monday, Vladimir Putin will take the presidential oath of office for the third time. After 12 years in power, Putin has increased his control over the country's major institutions, the siloviki and state bureaucracy.


