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Published: March 24th, 2016

March 24, 2016, 10:00

Lomonosov Housing MSU

Questions for discussion:

- The crisis of 1998: the initial situation and the Primakov-Maslyukov strategy with constraints on the part of the Yeltsin team.
- The role of Yevgeny Primakov, Y.D.Maslyukova, V.V.Geraschenko, left majority in the Duma in bringing the country out of the crisis of 1998, .
- The success of the creative team and its dismissal in spring 1999
- To what depth should now the crisis develop for oligarchy backed by vested interests and dictated by the tenets of the West to once again call upon the creative forces?
- Differences between the situation in 1998 and in 2016: what new obstacles the future government of national trust will have to overcome?
- How to prevent rapid re-preventive work of the future government of national trust?

Moderators:

Yuri Boldyrev, a member of the Russian Economic Journal Editorial Board, economist, journalist

Sergey Sobko, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Industry

Nikolai Sapozhnikov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Industry


Among participants:

S. Glazyev, N. Ostarkov, A. Veselkov, R. Nigmatulin, M. Delyagin, A. Parshev, N. Tyutyuryukov, V. Simchera, A. Ezhevsky, E. Kozlovsky, G. Kolmogorov, N. Panichev, O. Dmitrieva, M. Abramov, B. Nigmatulin, V. Ershov, S. Kara-Murza, A. Lebedev, V. Bobkov, D. Mityaev, M. Bogdanov, Cai Guyzhu, I. Komolova

March 24 at the fourth Moscow Economic Forum a round table "Reforms Primakov - Maslyukova. Lessons for Modern Russia" was held. Leading Russian experts, politicians and public figures discussed the results of work of the government of Yevgeny Primakov and the results carried out in the period of reforms, as well as the value and experience that they may have for modern Russia, in a state of deep economic crisis.

Discussion was moderated by a member of the Editorial Board of the Russian Economic Journal, economist, journalist Yury Boldyrev and deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Industry Nikolai Sapozhnikov. Opening the round table, Yuri Boldyrev noted huge role Primakov-Maslyukov tandem has played in bringing the country out of the 1998 crisis.

Advisor to the President of Russia, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Glazyev compared the 98-year crisis with the current situation in the country, since, according to him, has a lot in common: Russia faced a sharp devaluation of the ruble, uncontrolled surge of inflation.

Academician recalled that at the time of Washington offered to let the economy to market forces in the hope that a new equilibrium and due to the inflow of foreign capital economy again go up, but the government and the Central Bank have done everything exactly the opposite: did not raise interest rates and imposed currency restrictions. There were also measures taken to prevent attempts to monopolists to inflate prices. The result of these measures was an economic miracle, said Glazyev. "It was the fact that the industry has started to grow with the rate of more than 1% per month, and now we do not get so much in a year. And inflation fell three times. A very simple example that shows how to ensure macroeconomic stability ", - concluded the president's adviser.

According to the MEF speaker, to repeat the positive experience of Russia hinders the interest of influential players in the Russian economy in the monetary and financial speculation, which give the astronomical profits, according to expert estimates, about 50 billion dollars over the past two years.

As a result of measures taken by the Central Bank of the Russian market today has become a Mecca for speculators, who converted in the super-profits offshore. Business loans are not available, the company chose to raise prices after the increase in import prices, because of what the economy has received a second blow of inflation after the devaluation, and Russia falls deeper into the trap of stagflation.

Chairman of the USSR State Committee on standards George Kolmogorov proposed to introduce a system of regulation, which would allow to give preference to Russian, rather than foreign producers, and limited the import of products from abroad to get the economy out of the crisis. According to him, it can stop the decline in production.

State Duma deputy Nikolai Kolomeytsev proposed to include among the priorities of anti-crisis measures: imposing restrictions on the export of capital, limiting the influence of monopolies, returning to branch management and breaking away from the dollarization of the economy, and to adopt a law on the Central Bank and banks on five structural revival of Russia.

A member of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes Oksana Dmitrieva has identified the specificity of modern Russian crisis. Noting that the authorities have provided economic recession and rising unemployment in the background of the ruble strong devaluation, which in itself, on the other hand, is a powerful factor of economic growth on the background of the huge financial reserves and possibilities. In contrast to the crisis of the 1998 crisis: "This crisis is the absolute apathy. Apathy of all: the apathy of public management, which we mentioned, the business apathy and, in general, apathy of the population ", - summed up the deputy. According to her, the reason for the difficult economic situation lies in the degradation of not only the top echelon of public management, but management at a lower level.

Differences between the 1998 crisis of the current were spoted by roundtable moderator, deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Industry Nikolai Sapozhnikov too. He noted that while the economic crisis was accompanied by a political crisis, and that the government of professionals was formed.

For the indifference of the authorities in dealing with economic issues drew attention to General Director of "SV-Transavto" Vladimir Ershov, citing as an example the situation in the poultry industry, where Russia buys 85% of hatching eggs. the MEF Speaker urged to review and actively involve all the best Russian achievements.

Out of the crisis is possible by increasing the amount of money in the economy, the head of the National Agency Andrei Veselkov. "In order to solve the economic problems that need funding. Even in order to reduce costs, you still need financing, we need new technologies, we need investment. There are no money in the economy"- said the economist.

Roundtable participants agreed that the entry of the Primakov government can be considered as a precedent in recent history, when the authorities were forced to turn to their opponents, regardless of political differences in order to pull the country out of the abyss. A question was raised: what depth the crisis should reach now for the current government risked not revert to his class friends, but to the creative alternative presented including the Moscow Economic Forum. Speakers expressed the hope that this will happen, and then the main task will be to not to repeat the situation where the creative tandem worked only six months.

Source: me-forum.ru