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The book uses historical material to examine the most important crossroads in modern Russian history (1921-2009) and shows the circumstances in which they occurred.

Each chapter deals with a different period of twentieth-century Russian history. The book gives clear and simple explanations of the decisions taken in those fateful years, describing which crossroads in history required decisions and what limitations and obstacles forced the authors to act in one way rather than another. Yegor Gaidar and Anatoly Chubais are not historians, they are the people who elaborated and made the decisions so crucial for Russia in the 1990s and who took all responsibility for the consequences.

Based on historical material, the book examines the most important crossroads of Russian history in the period 1929-2009, showing the circumstances that gave rise to them - the choice of political decisions and the consequences, including new institutions. The result of the political decisions made in the late 1920s and early 1930s was the Soviet centrally planned economy; its growing crisis led to the crossroads of the 1990s. The decisions of 1992-1993 led to the creation of the market economy in Russia, a new stage in the country´s development.

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Yevgeny Yasin
Eyewitness to History

Anatoly Chubais
From the Author

Introduction

1928-1984

1985-1991

1992-1993

1994-1996

1996-2000

2000-2008

Crossroads of Our Times

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Anatoly Chubais is a Russian political and economic figure, head of the state Russian Nanotechnology Corporation. Anatoly Chubais has held various key posts in the Russian government and in state companies since 1991 and is an active participant in Russia´s public life. He is one of the authors and leaders of the economic reforms of the 1990s and of the reforms of the Russian energy system in the 2000s. Yegor Gaidar (19.03.1956-16.12.2009) is a Russian state and political figure, economist and academic. He was one of the leaders and authors of the economic reforms in the early 1990s in Russia. During 1991-1994 he held high posts in the Russian government. Under Gaidar´s leadership, the transition from a planned economy to a market economy started, prices were deregulated, the tax system was reorganized, foreign trade was liberalized, and privatization began. He is founder and director of the Institute for Economic Policy. Gaidar is author of numerous publications on economics and several monographs on the economic history of Russia and the analysis of the transition processes from a planned economy to a market economy.

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