All Things Considered

A story of how the financial system of post-Soviet Russia was formed.

The author examines the history of the creation of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation through the lens of the political and economic transformations of the Perestroika era. The book is based on interviews with each of the heads of the Central Bank. Through the personalities of these leaders—so different from one another—such topics are illuminated as the division of currencies, the creation of a currency corridor, the financial crisis, the shift to targeting the ruble, and the strengthening of bank supervision.

The narrative begins in 1990 (when the Central Bank of the Russian Federation was created) and ends in 2014, when the last head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, began the grand cleanup of the banking system and set the ruble free to float.

You will learn how the crisis started and how desperately it was tried to prevent, how Soviet bankers adopted Western experience, and how the collapse of foreign financial institutions was reflected in the banking system of a USSR in disintegration.

Before your eyes will pass pictures of that turbulent past: financial pyramids, the collapse of the ruble, strikes. The book tells almost all the events that affected the lives of ordinary people. Its journalistic style, lively language, many examples, and personal stories will make reading both engaging and useful.