"Russia," commented financier George Soros last year, "is like a canoe in which seven men are fighting over a hoard of gold. They are too absorbed by this to recognize that they are heading towards a waterfall." He was referring to what the Russian media often call the semibankirshchina or rule of the seven bankers, harking back to the semiboyarshchina - the brutal reign of Russia's aristocratic officials and landowners during the 17th century.
Unlike Asia's financial crisis, which followed decades of growth and vast infrastructural investment, Russia entered its crisis on the heels of a decade-long collapse, capital flight running into hundreds of billions of dollars and the kind of mass poverty not seen since the 1940s. Industrial production, according to one estimate, has dropped since 1991 by 80%, capital investment by nearly 90%.
By the time prime minister Sergei Kiriyenko announced a devaluation...
The rest of this article is available to subscribers only
Please Subscribe or take a Free Trial below.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
Subscribe online today
- Your print copy delivered every month
- Over a decade of archived content
- Daily news and updates
- Personalised email news feeds
- Unlimited online access
- Access to all our survey and award results
Subscribe
Free 48 hour access
- Online access to Euromoney.com
- In-depth analysis and comment of the international capital markets
- The best of our editorial comment by email
- Complimentary digital magazine sample
Start Trial
Questions about your subscription status?
Email us or call: +44 (0) 20 7779 8888