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opinion Anders Aslund

Elvira Nabiullina’s Failures Are Russia’s Economic Disasters

Nabiullina's policies have not provided stability, but effectively destroyed the institution she was appointed to lead.

Push for Customs Union Turns Friends to Foes

British Prime Minister David Cameron took umbrage last week when President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov allegedly ridiculed Britain as a "small...

United Russia's Adoration of Communism

The party's head of the State Duma's Committee on Economic Policy believes that the leading role in the economy should belong to state corporations...

How Rosneft Is Turning Into Another Gazprom

During the last half decade, the mismanagement of Gazprom has turned from comic to tragic.

opinion Anders Aslund

Russia Loses Without Guriev

Guriev's forced departure is a huge blow to civil society and freedom in Russia. The Kremlin showed its disrespect for education and research.

Putin's State Capitalism Means Falling Growth

While officially condoning certain liberal economic policies, Putin has pursued the opposite course, a mixture of state and crony capitalism.

VTB Purchase of Tele2 Is a Classic Insider Deal

A relatively small business deal, VTB's purchase of Swedish-owned mobile phone company Tele2 tells us a lot about the state of the Russian stock market...

The Cyprus Crisis Is a Postmortem for Russia

Suddenly, the Cyprus crisis blew up, but now it may have been settled. Of course, Cyprus itself loses the most out of this crisis, but Russia comes...

opinion Anders Aslund

How Russia Mismanaged the Financial Crisis

One of the least understood aspects of Russia's economic policy is how badly the government managed the global financial crisis.

9 Reasons Why Stability in Russia May Be Elusive

Last week, the annual Gaidar Forum took place at the Academy of the National Economy and Public Administration in Moscow. Admirably, the academy's...

Rise and Fall of Russia's Economic Think Tanks

The current witch-hunt against nongovernmental organizations is not only harming freedom but also hurting Russia's intellectual life and policymaking...

opinion Anders Aslund

How Putin Is Turning Russia Into One Big Enron

In a few quick decisions, President Vladimir Putin has devastated Russia's energy policy. This daring radical change of strategy will primarily hit state...

How Yanukovych Turned Tycoons Into Enemies

Ukraine's parliamentary election on Sunday will be neither free nor fair. After eight unproductive years since the 2004 Orange Revolution, the democratic...

Rosneft Is Foundation of Putin's State Capitalism

State-dominated Rosneft announced Monday that it had bought all of TNK-BP for about $55 billion at the expense of the Russian state. Nothing is more...

Big Setbacks Give Gazprom Impetus for Change

Finally, something is happening to Gazprom, perhaps the most mismanaged and corrupt company of its size in the world.

Why Everyone Is Avoiding Gazprom

Even though Gazprom enjoys all the official state privileges, it still cannot produce, sell or cooperate. The company is headed for the dustbin of history...

Why Moldova Has Turned Its Back on Russia

Last month I visited Moldova and its pro-Russian breakaway Transdnestr region. Both illustrate Russia's dysfunctional foreign policy in the post-Soviet...

opinion Anders Aslund

Putin's Eurasian Illusion Will Lead to Isolation

The strangest part of President Vladimir Putin's new policy is his promotion of the Eurasian Union. It is likely to be costly and unsuccessful.

What Putin's Piecemeal Reforms Will Look Like

In my last column, "Putin's New Economic Liberalism," published April 25, I pointed out how President Vladimir Putin has changed his tone on economic...

Putin's New Economic Liberalism

The most remarkable change in Russia after the December protests is that people have started speaking freely again, as in the good old 1990s. Gradually...

Why BRICS Is No Good for Russia

Since the Soviet collapse, Russia has tried to join all major international groups. It has opted for the Group of Eight (G8), the BRICS (Brazil, Russia...

Why Gazprom Resembles a Crime Syndicate

Gazprom has been Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's main preoccupation since 2001, but it has been a spectacular failure. Gazprom possesses huge natural...

Putin's Dangerous Reprivatization Idea

For years, Vladimir Putin has appealed to his electorate with stability and predictability. But on Feb. 9, he questioned the legitimacy of property...

Heated, Open Discussions at the Gaidar Forum

Each year, Moscow hosts a couple of major economic conferences. Yevgeny Yasin will organize one at the Higher School of Economics in early April,...

How to Rebuild Russia

We all agree. Russia needs to be rebuilt. Ample material is available: talented human capital, lots of cash and plenty of raw materials. But how should...

How WTO Can Change the Game for Russia

On Nov. 10, the World Trade Organization Working Party for Russia's accession to that organization finally approved the country for membership after...

Putin Takes a Populist Turn

After a long rest, alternating between publicity stunts and foreign trips representing Gazprom, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has suddenly woken up with...

Kiev Can't Manage Without the European Union

This year's Yalta European Strategy conference, or YES, organized and largely financed by oligarch Viktor Pinchuk, was held from Sept. 15 to 18. This...

The U.S., Not Gaidar, Killed Yeltsin's Reforms

The 20-year commemoration of the abortive August 1991 coup is an opportune time to contemplate what has been accomplished and what has failed in Russia...

High Graft + 4% Growth = Enduring Stagnation

Although global oil prices have been high during the first six months of 2011, Russia's economy is expanding by a moderate rate of 4 percent. At present...

The EU Should Follow Russia's Fiscal Restraint

Watching the current euro-zone crisis unfold, Russians can proudly say they eliminated their public debt. By contrast, the euro-zone decision makers...

Lukashenko Digs Belarus' Grave

Once again, Belarus has entered one of its many payments crises. Usually, such a crisis ends with Russia bailing the country out. A bailout attempt...

Schism in the Tandem Is Getting Larger

The differences between Medvedev's Magnitogorsk speech in March and Putin's address to the State Duma last week highlight how the conflict between...

Learning Some Big Lessons From Little Estonia

Of all the post-Communist countries, none has been more successful in its reforms than Estonia. Today, it is difficult to imagine that only 20 years...

What Russia Can Learn From Tunisia and Egypt

The current events in the Middle East are of great significance for Russia and the other former Soviet republics. There is a wealth of comparative...

Kremlin Should Focus on Inflation Targeting

The peculiar exchange rate and monetary policy Russia has pursued in the last year has become a little noticed fact, but it has led to capital outflows...

High Corruption and Low Growth Spoil 2010

When Russian leaders review the country’s economic development in 2010, they can only be disappointed. There were no great economic disasters, but Russia...

10 Reasons Why the Economy Will Recover

During the past two years, the mood in Russia has changed profoundly. Euphoria and complacency have been replaced with cynicism and pessimism. A broad...

Assessing Moscow’s Management of the Crisis

After two years, the global financial crisis has abated and the world economy is set to grow by an impressive 4.8 percent this year. Most governments,...

Putin Represents What Is Wrong With Russia

Some advice to a young Russian woman: “It is better to marry a top state official than an oligarch. The money is the same, but job security is so much...

Let’s Get Privatization Right This Time Around

At a conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in February 1992, Anders Aslund and other advisers to Russia’s young reform government discussed how to...

The Kremlin’s New Policy in Its Near Abroad

The Kremlin realizes that its old aggressive policy toward countries in the former Soviet Union has completely failed. Its new policy is pragmatic and...

10 Steps Ukraine Should Take Toward Reform

The big question today is whether the new Ukrainian government will carry out badly needed market reforms.