Word: primakov
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...does a stricken Russian government restore its liquidity? Nationalize vodka, of course. That may sound like a bad Russian joke, but in fact it was the first concrete economic measure announced by Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. "By restoring the Soviet-era state monopoly on the alcohol industry, they hope to get as much hard currency as possible into state coffers," says TIME Moscow correspondent Andrew Meier. "The problem is there's little chance that they have the infrastructure to enforce it." The state machinery required to police liquor distribution is in disarray, while the Russian underworld -- which has a huge...
...central bank's printing presses continue to roll. The government refuses to disclose how many rubles have been churned out, but with the monthly inflation rate at 67 percent and rising, Russia looks set for another season of hyperinflation. In the face of a hemorrhaging ruble, Primakov has promised to look out for the needs of the poor; seizing the vodka supply may be the best way he knows of doing that...
...Primakov also accepted the Duma's choice as the new head of the central bank, Viktor Gerashchenko. Actually, he is not new, as he was head of the bank twice before: once when many ordinary citizens had their savings wiped out by a disastrous reform in 1991, and again when the ruble sank 30% on a single day, Black Tuesday, in 1994. During both tours of duty, Gerashchenko was widely criticized for heedlessly printing rubles and pumping almost unlimited credit into rusting, unproductive industrial enterprises and collective farms...
...magician," says Primakov. "Don't judge this government by its first hundred days." But his first two appointments will frighten foreign investors and worry Western governments. They probably guarantee that the next bailout installment of $4.3 billion from the International Monetary Fund, due this month, will be held up. The U.S. opposes even considering another payment until it sees Primakov's plan to stabilize the Russian economy. "All previous programs are irrelevant," says a White House aide...
...Russia's new Prime Minister, Yevgeny Primakov, once headed the Soviet equivalent of the CIA. Who now heads...