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Conclusions 1991-2000
// SUMMARY OF THE CAPITALIST DECADE
Since the project was launched, we have written about 20 of the most important industries of the Russian economy. These are the chemical industry, ferrous metallurgy, the food industry, the auto industry, nonferrous metallurgy, the oil industry, air transport, light industry, the power industry, water transport, the gas industry, the military-industrial complex, banking, mass media and advertising, telecommunications, railway transport, the forest industry, the coal industry, show business, and the engineering industry. The report on each industry includes its history, the situation in the industry today, and its prospects. We have also defined the term "oligarch."
Now it is time to conclude the series Who Owns Russia/Ten Years of Russian Capitalism. The summary of the capitalist decade has been prepared by Nikolai Vardul, an editor in Kommersant's economic policy department, and Dmitry Butrin, a columnist in the business department.
A SHORT HISTORY COURSE
Critical years in history always have their own names, for example, the year of the Great October Revolution, the year of the "great crisis," or simply 1812. In retrospect, each of the first ten years of capitalism in Russia was a critical year and may go down in history under the following names.
1991: The Year of the Exchange
The history of capitalism in the country began with the exchange movement. The profession of broker was the first business profession to become widely known in Russia. In 1991, everything in the Russian economy had a value placed on it on the exchanges.
1992: The Year of the Voucher
In 1992, every Russian citizen received the right to a piece of the national economy in the form of vouchers. Although the right was symbolic, the vouchers marked the start of privatization, destroying the thesis that nothing belonged to anyone.
1993: The Year of the Kiosk
Kiosks very quickly became an opposing force to state stores. The first cardboard, tin, wooden, and canvas stalls showed everyone that each resident of the new capitalist Russia had a choice, even if it was only a choice between different brands of vodka, and that nearly everyone was free to open a kiosk.
1994: The Year of Black Tuesday
This year showed for the first time that there were both profits and risks in business. After 1994, the year of "black Tuesday," which was actually not quite so black, no one could say that life in business was a life of leisure: the rich also cry.
1995: The Year of the Currency Corridor
In 1995, the Russian government, represented by the Central Bank, first showed Russians that it not only knew what to do with the last remnants of state property, but also knew how carry out intelligent and purposeful financial policy.
1996: The Year of the Seven Bankers
Most Russians saw the real power of money for the first time in 1996. Seven commercial banks were able to impose their will on the government and the president on the strength of their money, proving that politics was merely an extension of the economy.
1997: The Year of Loans for Shares Auctions
This year showed for the first time how quickly and dirtily money was converted into power and vice versa. The problem of corruption in the upper echelons of power had never been more apparent than it was in 1997, when the country's largest industrial enterprises were handed over to prominent entrepreneurs with close ties to power for next to nothing at loans for shares auctions.
1998: The Year of the Default
This year does not need a name at all: to this day, the history of Russian business is divided into pre-1998 and post-1998 years. In this year, Russians realized that the whole country was paying for the authorities' mistakes, and there was no pretending that the state was separate from its citizens.
1999: The Year of Industrial Growth
In 1999, the first post-crisis year, the Russian economy showed the first signs of growth. This growth might be considered as simply climbing out of a hole, but the fact remains that for the first time in eight years, economic reform was producing visible results.
2000: The Year of Equidistancing
After President Yeltsin's resignation, it became obvious that Russia could not live in a period of "initial capital accumulation" forever. By pointedly distancing itself from the oligarchs, who were the symbols of all the preceding years, the state marked the end of the first decade of capitalism.
2001: The Year of the White Salary
The reduction of income tax rates to 13% occurred in this year, the first year of a new decade of capitalism. As a result, salaries in Russia started being paid legally ("white" salary), rather than illegally ("black" salary). Before 2001, only employees of private companies had salary schedules, whereas "black" salaries were mostly paid at less profitable state companies. However, the state still does not regard entrepreneurs as honest taxpayers.
by Dmitry Butrin
RUSSIAN BUSINESS HOLIDAYS
In precapitalist society, every self-respecting specialty had a professional holiday, e.g., Metallurgist's Day, Miner's Day, etc., but Russian business still has an unbroken string of working days. However, nearly every week of the year, there is some sort of memorable day for the business community on the business calendar.
JANUARY
January 3: All-Russian Currency Speculator's Day
On this day in 1992, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation first intervened on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MMVB), which defined the Central Bank's tactics on the currency market in all subsequent years. In January 1992 alone, the Central Bank sold $3.3 million on the MMVB, which caused the dollar to drop from 230 to 210 rubles.
Prior to this, the dollar exchange rate had been determined by the banks. The All-Russian Exchange Bank (VBB), for example, organized and held auctions. However, pure competition between the bank and Central Bank dollar exchange rates did not work out; in fact, on January 22, the Central Bank annulled the bidding results of a VBB auction and then prohibited independent foreign exchange auctions entirely.
Furthermore, on January 3, 1997, amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation were published that abrogated the well-known Soviet-era clause "Violation of Foreign Exchange Regulations," which treated dollar transactions between citizens as a crime.
On this day, we recommend re-counting the dollars sewn into your pillow.
January 11: Economic Entity Day
On this day in 2002, on the initiative of Judge Eduard Renov, the Presidium of the Superior Court of Arbitration confirmed the legality of the liquidation of the Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corporation (ZAO MNVK), the company that broadcast on TV-6. The LUKOIL-Garant pension fund, a minority shareholder of MNVK, had demanded the liquidation of TV-6 and made no secret of the fact that its objective was to force MNVK's main shareholder, companies owned by Boris Berezovsky, out of the television business. The President's entourage had the same political objectives in mind in pursuing Berezovsky and greeted Judge Renov's initiative with enthusiasm.
President Vladimir Putin characterized the situation as "a dispute between economic entities," and therefore, this holiday honoring the inexplicable but happy coincidence of interests of the state administration and justice is called "Economic Entity Day."
On this day, we recommend honoring the memory of the economic entity by turning off the TV for one minute.
January 19: TV Advertising Day
On January 19, 1993, the Russian State Television and Radio Company (RGTRK) Ostankino, the future ORT, signed a wholesale sales contract for advertising time on the first channel with Premier SV, Video International (Video interneshnl), Lot, Contact (Kontakt), Blik Communications (Blik kommyunikeishnz), and Aurora (Avrora). Wholesale purchases of advertising air time became the basis of a flourishing television advertising industry in Russia and along with it, the images of sanitary pads with wings, telemarketing, and the Imperial Bank's world history became firmly fixed in people's minds.
Raise your spirits today by recalling a couple of jokes about the stupidity of TV ads.
January 24: Out of the Coal Face Day
On January 24, 1995, the coal miners' union set up pickets for the first time on Gorbaty Most (a bridge) near Government House in Moscow. A miner beating his helmet on the bridge became one of the most vivid symbols of the 1990s. In 1998, the "helmet show" attracted politicians like Sergei Kirienko and Boris Nemtsov; after their dismissal from the government, they visited the miners at their site near the White House and offered them a bottle of vodka as a sign of professional solidarity. The miners refused to drink on the job, and the ex-premier and ex-vice-premier never did learn their professional secrets.
Try to abstain from alcohol today.
January 28: Property Redistribution Day
January 28, 1997, became a holiday thanks to events at the Kachkanar Ore Mining and Processing Combine (Kachkanarsky GOK). The parties involved in these events gave differing accounts of what actually happened. However, the Ural Mining and Smelting Company (UGMK), which had taken over Kachkanarsky GOK, and Dzhalol Khaidarev, the GOK's former general director who had lost all his property in the takeover struggle, both agreed that there had been an attempt to "redistribute property." The term stuck, and many politicians even claimed that the entire history of Russian business boiled down to a redistribution of property.
On this day, we recommend moving your garden fence half a meter onto your neighbor's lot.
FEBRUARY
February 19: Birthday of Treasury Bills
On this day in 1993, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation passed a resolution approving the issue of treasury bills (T-bills). The internal loan market quickly turned into the country's main financial market and became the primary instrument for transferring money from the pockets of Russian citizens into bank assets through inflationary mechanisms, as well as the main source of financing for budget expenditures, including military and teachers' salaries and pensions. The T-bill pyramid lasted until August 1998 and is one of the main reasons why the default holiday appears on our calendar.
On this day, we recommend going to a casino, but be sure you know when to quit.
February 24: Victory in the Aluminum War Day
The Russian Aluminum Company (Rusal), which united most of Russia's major aluminum smelters, was set up on this day in 2000. This was the finale of the last aluminum war, a political and economic conflict over nonferrous metallurgy assets that had been going on since 1994 (or since 1992, according to other versions) and had involved nearly every prominent oligarch and politician. The heroes of February 24 are entrepreneurs Roman Abramovich and Oleg Deripaska, because through their efforts, all of the country's large aluminum companies became the property of Rusal.
On this day, we recommend eating black caviar with an aluminum spoon.
MARCH
March 6: Defrauded Depositor's Day
On March 6, 1993, the MMM-Invest voucher investment fund, which was part of Sergei Mavrodi's MMM group, began trading in the fund's stock certificates. Certificates (later known as MMM notes) became the financial market's most popular tool. The high point of MMM's history came when Sergei Mavrodi, rather than Boris Yeltsin, broadcast New Year's greetings to the nation on one of the television channels. By fall 1994, it was clear that MMM was a financial pyramid that had buried a record amount of depositors' money in the rubble when it collapsed.
On this day, we recommend buying your wife a pair of boots.
March 8: Charitable Business Holiday
On this day in 1995, the President of Russia issued a decree rescinding a number of decrees that allowed the National Sports Foundation (NFS) and some other organizations, which theoretically could have been considered charitable organizations, to import food products, alcohol, and tobacco into Russia duty-free. The NFS fell victim to Vice-Premier Anatoly Chubais and went bankrupt within a year along with the National Credit Bank (bank Natsionalny kredit). After the NFS debacle, until 1997, the only organizations to receive exemptions were Russian Orthodox Church groups that imported alcohol and cigarettes duty-free for charitable purposes.
On this day, we recommend a visit to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
March 17: A Person Resembling…Day
On this day in 1999, RTR broadcast the premiere of the erotic-heroic documentary drama A Person Resembling the Attorney General on late-night television. A television channel with close ties to the private security company Atoll had shot the film on the orders of political opponents of Attorney General Yury Skuratov. In spite of its lack of professionalism, the film became the most popular documentary in Russia, and after viewing it, President Yeltsin fired Skuratov.
On this day, we recommend spending time with your family.
MAY
May 30: Gas Day
On May 30, 1992, Viktor Chernomyrdin, the head of the state gas company Gazprom, turned control over to Rem Vyakhirev, marking the beginning of dynastic management at Gazprom planned by Chernomyrdin and Vyakhirev. Almost all the children of members of Gazprom's governing board received large blocks of shares or management positions in companies connected with Gazprom as confirmation of their future rights of succession. Vyakhirev's successor, Aleksei Miller, ended the dynasty and is still systematically replacing its members with state representatives, although Vyakhirev is still chairman of Gazprom's board of directors.
On this day, we recommend hoping for the best.
JUNE
June 13: Freedom in Exchange for Property Day
On this day in 2000, entrepreneur Vladimir Gusinsky arrived from London for questioning at the Attorney General's office and was arrested on suspicion of stealing money from the Russian Video company (Russkoe video). At the insistence of the Minister of the Press Mikhail Lisin, he later signed an agreement for his release in exchange for giving up companies belonging to the Most group, including the NTV television channel. This day is a freedom of speech holiday, along with Talking Head Day, International Russian Mafia Day, and Economic Entity Day.
Stay far away from the homeland today.
June 19: Fake Note Day
On June 19, 1992, Georgy Matyukhin, the head of the Central Bank of Russia, sent a telegram to all commercial banks in the country prohibiting them from accepting payments in notes received from banking institutions in the Chechen Republic. The telegram was the culmination of a story of fake notes, or forged strict accountability statements (???), which Russian banks had been using to convert billions of nonexistent rubles into cash since 1991. A fair number of Russian bankers were implicated in the scandal, but without the help of the Chechen authorities, it was impossible to determine who had forged the notes and under whose protection. However, the Chechen government refused to help the Russian government and the case was closed.
On this day, we recommend avoiding financial operations.
June 20: Box from under the Xerox Day
On the night of June 19-20, 1996, members of the Federal Protection Service arrested Arkady Yevstafev and Sergei Lisovksy, who were involved in President Yeltsin's election campaign, at a checkpoint in the White House during an attempt to remove a box containing half a million dollars from under a Xerox copier. As a result of this episode, spheres of influence shifted from some oligarchs to others; Aleksandr Korzhakov, the head of the presidential guard, was dismissed; and oligarchy began to flourish as a political and economic phenomenon. A few years later, the money from the box was quietly transferred to federal budget revenues, and the idea of the box from under the Xerox was used in television shows like "Greed" ("Alchnost"), where you could not only see large amounts of cash, but also theoretically win them.
On this day, we recommend firing your security chief.
JULY
July 5: Currency Corridor Day
On this day in 1995, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced a new policy for determining the ruble-to-dollar exchange rate by setting limits on the fluctuations of the ruble rate with respect to the dollar, i.e., a currency corridor. The currency corridor gave the illusion of stability for the next three years, but together with the T-bill market, led to the default of August 1998.
On this day, we recommend staying within limits.
July 6-7: Mobile Day
Mobile Telesystems (MTS) launched its GSM-900 cellular network in Moscow on July 6, 1994, and Vympelkom (Bee Line trademark) started operating its AMPS cellular network on July 7, also in Moscow. By 2001, the two competing companies had made cell phones affordable to all middle-class Muscovites, but at the same time had divided users into two opposing camps of equally uncompromising MTS subscribers and Bee Line subscribers. The appearance of cell phones was clear evidence that capitalism in Russia needed not only oligarchs, but also ordinary people. MTS subscribers observe the holiday on July 6, and Bee Line subscribers, on July 7.
Call your parents.
July 9: Day in Memory of the Victims of the Uprising at the Vyborg Pulp and Paper Mill
On July 9, 1999, Aleksandr Sabadash, an owner of the Vyborg Pulp and Paper Mill (Vyborgsky TsBK), tried to enter the mill accompanied by a bailiff, the police, and the guard service of ZAO AFB-2, which he controlled. He was beaten up by the workers, and for the next several months, the union controlled the mill, refusing to allow the owners onto the premises. Sabadash became the country's first prominent industrialist to be forced to defend his rights to the mill in a common brawl. He won in the end and paid the striking workers 1000 rubles each when they finally tired of working without pay at the "people's enterprise."
Pay your employees.
July 11: Summer Clearance Day
On this day in 2000, the Attorney General's office announced that it was instituting criminal charges against Vagit Alekperov, the president of LUKOIL. This was the first case in the campaign to clear the oligarchs out of Russian government bodies (motivated by President Putin's statement that all major business players would be "equally distanced from the president"). Summer Clearance Day marked the end of the "old" oligarchy in Russia, which devoted itself to money-power-money, and the appearance of a "new" oligarchy devoted to power-money-power. After Alekperov, the authorities went after nearly every head of a large business (Kommersant Daily published a front-page article under the heading "They came for…" almost every week). As a result of the summer clearance, there were more oligarchs in Russia than ever before.
On this day, we recommend reflecting on your social status.
July 25: Day of the Seven Bankers
According to popular legend, these seven bankers controlled the country's economic life in 1996-1997, but no one knows for certain who they were. The official version lists Boris Berezovsky [Incorporated Bank (Obedinenny bank)], Vladimir Gusinsky (Most-Bank), Vladimir Vinogradov (Inkombank), Aleksandr Smolensky [Capital City Savings Bank (Stolichny bank sberzheny)], Mikhail Fridman (Alfa-Bank), Mikhail Khodorkovsky (MENATEP), and Vitaly Malkin [Russian Credit (Rossiysky kredit)]. The first legends about the seven bankers appeared in March 1996, after President Yeltsin met with a group of bank directors, who promised to finance Yeltsin's re-election campaign in return for future indulgences. The only evidence for the existence of the "group of seven" was a special operations department (OPERU-2) headed by Denis Kiselev, which was set up by the Central Bank on July 25, 1996, to work with large and socially significant banks, although it did not really try to impose financial control on them.
On this day, we recommend making an appointment with the President.
July 25: St. Invest Day
On this day in 1997, the Cyprus-based consortium Mustcom Ltd., which included companies with close ties to Vladimir Potanin (then the Vice-Premier) and George Soros, won a sale tender for 25% plus one share of the Svyazinvest telecommunications holding. Mustcom paid a record $1.87 billion for the shares, compared to the $1.7 billion offered by Telefam, an alliance of opponents backed by Vladimir Gusinsky and Boris Berezovsky. The tender was accompanied by the first-ever "mud-slinging war" in the Russian media, with the losers accusing Potanin of playing up to Mustcom.
On this day, you can ask your foreign partner for money.
AUGUST
August 4: Millionaire's Day
On this day in 1997, Sergei Dubinin, the head of the Central Bank, announced the imminent denomination of the ruble. Starting on January 1, 1998, old rubles would be converted into new rubles at the rate of 1000 to 1 and the kopeck would once again be put into circulation. Denomination symbolized the end of galloping inflation in Russia and the beginning of relative financial stability. The word "millionaire" also began to take on its real meaning.
On this day, we recommend giving your children a piggy bank.
August 14: Voucher Day
On August 14, 1992, Boris Yeltsin issued the decree "On the Introduction of a System of Privatization Vouchers in the Russian Federation." On this day, Russians express their loathing for Anatoly Chubais, who symbolizes the privatization voucher. Chubais had recklessly announced that "within a few years, a voucher will be worth two Volgas." Although the privatization begun with the vouchers was the mainstay of the country's economy, Chubais' unfulfilled promise of "two Volgas" made him the primary culprit in all the troubles in the business world.
On this day, we recommend going for a drive in two Volgas.
August 17: Default Day
On August 17, 1998, the Central Bank and the government issued a joint statement proclaiming the end of the currency corridor and a three-month moratorium on debt payments by banks to foreign creditors. The totality of events, from the devastation of the banking system to the obliteration of most of the population's savings, was given the name "default." Another popular name for the holiday is "August 19," which associates the default with the State Emergency Committee (GKChP) political holiday of August 19, 1991 (referring to the August 19, 1991, coup attempt by eight Committee members against Mikhail Gorbachev).
Like the Chinese character for "change," default can mean either "crisis" or "opportunity." After experiencing the greatest economic upheaval in its first seven years of capitalism, Russia finally chose the path of capitalist development.
On this day, we recommend putting money in a bank and forgetting about it.
SEPTEMBER
September 3: 850th Anniversary of Moscow Day
The whole country has observed this holiday since the end of September 1993 or even before: the exact date of Mayor Yury Luzhkov's announcement of the upcoming celebration of Moscow's 850th anniversary has not been determined. On this day, residents of Moscow and the rest of the country rejoice in the Moscow city administration's successes. The holiday itself was observed on September 3-4, 1997, since according to an ancient Russian chronicle, the capital was founded in 1147. However, the holiday turned out to be less grand than the preparations for it (as early as 1995, every kiosk in Moscow had to be decorated with holiday symbols, paid for by prominent businessmen); therefore, the holiday is still with us and is celebrated annually in Moscow. The city has honored the holiday with constructions like the shopping center in Manezh Square (popularly known as "the pit"), the monument to Peter the Great ("the Tsar"), on a spit in the Moscow River, and Zurab Tsereteli's sculpture ("the mutant") in the Moscow Zoo.
On this day, we recommend providing monetary assistance to municipal officials.
September 9: International Russian Mafia Day
On this day in 1999, several American national newspapers published articles on how the Russian Mafia's money was being laundered at the Bank of New York (BoNY). Although not one of the accusations leveled against Russian business by the Western press was ever proven (the high point was the version that $4.5 billion worth of IMF stabilization credit issued in July 1998 had been stolen through the BoNY), they seriously damaged its reputation abroad. Since then, at least in the US, every Russian businessman has been viewed a potential agent of the Russian Mafia and is forced to prove his honesty.
On this day, we recommend working on your image.
September 26: Plastic Card Day
On this day in 1992, the Russian commercial bank Kredobank presented the first foreign currency Visa credit cards. Introducing credit cards in Russia was not easy: in 1997, a newspaper in Krasnoyarsk, in accusing a deputy of the local Duma, asked its readers, "How could an honest person possibly have a plastic card?"
On this day, we recommend remembering your PIN number.
OCTOBER
October 9: Money-Changer's Day
On this day in 1992, the first foreign currency exchange operations in Russia began at the exchange office at VAO Intourist. Prior to this, dollars were exchanged only on the black market. On October 9, Russians celebrate the chance to tell their fellow workers proudly, "I don't have any money, just greenbacks."
On this day, we recommend changing rubles to dollars and vice versa several times to see what happens.
October 11: Black Tuesday
This is one of the most mysterious and inexplicable dates in the history of Russian business. On October 11, 1994, the ruble fell 845 points to 3926 rubles to the dollar during trading on the MMVB, a drop of almost 25%, which cost Viktor Gerashchenko his position as head of the Central Bank. Interestingly enough, the name "Black Tuesday" only became a catchword a year later. On this day, the Russian business community pays tribute to the risk it faces on unpredictable financial markets.
We recommend spending all the money left over from celebrating October 9 on Monday.
October 13: Oligarch's Day
The invention of the term "oligarch" is variously attributed to either Boris Nemtsov (in May 1994) or the newspaper Izvestiya (in December 1995). However, the word actually dates from May 8, 1990, when Igor Sergeevich Sychev, one of the leaders of the Pamyat (Memory) movement and a member of the Artists' Union of the USSR, mentioned "financial oligarchs" in passing in an open letter to Kommersant Daily spiting Dmitry Vasilev, Pamyat's "spritual leader." The oligarchs first gave themselves their name on October 13, 1992. On that day, MENATEP Bank announced plans to set up an organization to provide banking services for the "financial and industrial oligarchy," that is, for clients with private means of at least $10 million who demanded an "exclusive approach" because of their influence and requirements.
On this day, we recommend getting together with a small group and sharing everything.
NOVEMBER
November 1: Birthday of the Standard Unit (U.E.)
On November 1, 1997, cash payments in foreign currency were prohibited in Russia and stores began replacing the dollar sign on price tags with the notation "s.u." (standard unit; or "u.e." in Russian). The most popular alternative names among Kommersant journalists are "dead raccoon," "arbitrary unit," and "Uruguayan escudo" (all of these have the same first letters "u.e." in Russian). However, we are sure that people have thought up other clever interpretations of this popular Russian abbreviation.
On this day, we recommend showing your enthusiasm by shouting "U.e.!"
November 13: Business Prose Day
On this day in 1997, a manuscript entitled The History of Privatization in Russia was published, the most scandalous book in Russia that hardly anyone read. The book became widely known after publication of the names of the authors (who included Vice-Premier Anatoly Chubais, head of the State Committee for the Management of State Property Alfred Kokh, and other government officials), the fact that each author had received an honorarium of $90 000, and the name of sponsor (Vladimir Potanin, who had just won a tender for Svyazinvest shares). President Boris Yeltsin rewarded the authors' creative efforts by firing most of them.
You can start writing your memoirs today.
November 17: Big Oil Day
With the publication of decrees setting up the YUKOS and Surgutneftegaz oil companies on November 17, 1992, the President of the Russian Federation completed the creation of the three companies-LUKOIL, YUKOS, and Surgutneftegaz that formed the basis of the Russian oil industry. LUKOIL symbolized financial might; YUKOS, the dynamism of development; and Surgutneftegaz, stability.
On this day, we recommend filling right up.
November 17: Loans for Shares Auction Day
On November 17, 1997, the first loans for shares auction, i.e., payment to banking and financial institutions for their support in the presidential elections, ended in Moscow. The auction (state-owned shares in the West Siberian Metallurgical Combine (Zapadno-Sibirsky metkombinat were put up for auction) did not take place, because there were no buyers. Other, more successful transactions followed, with the aim of quickly distributing state property among the oligarchs by noncompetitive means. Only a few of the companies sold at loans for shares auctions were later returned to the state or passed to new owners. There have been many attempts to reconsider the results of privatization, but they have been unsuccessful.
Celebrate this day the same as Oligarch's Day.
November 23: High-Speed Line Day
On this day in 1993, Boris Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the Russian joint-stock company High-Speed Line (RAO VSM) in St. Petersburg. The company's goal was to construct a high-speed railway line between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Vice-Premier Aleksei Bolshakov had lobbied for the project, which was financed by RAO VSM bonds equated to the state debt. The only real monument to RAO VSM was a new station in St. Petersburg that did not even have rails leading to it. The company also promoted the growth of the environmental movement in central Russia, because the proposed route of the line, which apparently no one ever seriously considered building, passed through two nature preserves.
On this day, we recommend making the journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow via Panama.
DECEMBER
December 2: Mask Show Holiday
On December 2, 1994, forces with ties to Aleksandr Korzhakov seized Most-Bank's central office. This holiday has many names taken from publications placed in the media just before the event: "Goose Hunt" (a play on Vladimir Gusinsky's surname, which is derived from the Russian word for "goose"), "Snow Is Falling," etc. Later on, it received the name "Mask Show," because the invaders, who belonged to various paramilitary groups, hid their faces under black masks with slits for the mouth and eyes. Mask Shows carried out by the tax police, the FSB, the OMON, and the bailiffs' physical security service have become a fairly common entertainment for Russian big business, and the most talented and obliging organizers of similar performances in these armed divisions never lack for money.
On this day, we recommend taking a good steam bath and falling face down in the snow.
December 4: Foreign Debt Day
On December 4, 1991, the Bank of Foreign Economic Activity of the USSR (Vneshekonombank SSSR) informed all financial organizations and banks that payments of the USSR's debts would be suspended for an indefinite period. When Russia declared its independence, it assumed responsibility for most of the USSR's debts, and on this day, it first found out what foreign debt meant, and later, what the Paris and London clubs of creditors meant. However, the debts did not prevent Russia from borrowing more and thus increasing the debt load.
On this day, you can become a member of any Paris or London club.
December 11: Broker's Day
On December 11, 1990, the statutory meeting of the Russian Commodity Exchange (RTSB) was held and the foundations of a large part of the future fortunes of Russian capitalists were laid. Prominent founders of the RTSB included the Ministry of Communication Means of the USSR and the Moscow Polytechnical Museum. At that time, the profession of broker became a symbol of the initial accumulation of financial and intellectual capital in Russian business.
On this day, we recommend recalling what you were trading and where in winter 1991.
December 22: Foreign Tourist Day
On December 22, 1992, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation affirmed the validity of the entry/exit law of the USSR, which granted citizens the right to freedom of movement. In actual practice, this decision abolished Russian exit visas; and instead of having to get prior permission from the Visa and Registration Department (OVIR), it was sufficient to obtain an entry visa at the embassy of the relevant country. This decision led to rapid growth of the tourist business in Russia. Unfulfilled dreams of tours to Antalya, Cyprus, and the Canary Islands turned into a service that could be sold and bought. Merchants in Istanbul markets began learning Russian and Chinese entrepreneurs started sewing big striped bags for Russian shuttle traders. The Supreme Soviet's resolution opened up opportunities for the most popular form of small business in Russia.
On this day, we recommend buying a globe and starting to learn English.
Dmitry Butrin
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 05, 2002
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