Author: Eugenia Written

Publisher: Mann, Ivanov & Ferber, 2013.
ISBN 978-5-91657-784-6
Pages: 256 pp.
Format: 70×100/16 (170x240 mm)
Circulation: 5000 copies.
Weight: 580 g
Binding: Hardcover

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• Table of contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: From Marxists to Liberals
• Chapter 2: The St. Petersburg Hardening

A book about Alexei Kudrin

Yevgenia Pismennaya's book is a history of Russian power and the Russian economy, told from the perspective of the people who created it: ministers, deputies, economists, and businessmen. It is an account of the unknown side of Putin's economic and political course, his unexpected alliance with the liberals, and the collapse of this strange alliance.

After reading the book, you will learn:

• How key economic decisions were actually made in post-Soviet Russia: from liberal reforms to Default 1990s, from Putin's first reforms to the national projects and the Sochi Olympics;
• what is behind the high-profile cases of the 2000s - the Yukos case, Sergei Storchak, and the sale of the Bank of Moscow;
• what kind of people have been and still are running our economy;
• who Alexei Kudrin, the chief economist of the Putin era, really is. Why he continues to enjoy influence in the government, even after leaving it.

This book is for those interested in the history of modern Russia, its political, economic and social structure.

This is a unique journalistic investigation. You could say it is a "first-person story" from the mouths of its characters and protagonists themselves. This fascinating documentary novel about a journey through the labyrinths of Russian politics reveals much about how the Russian economy actually works and why, in the two decades since the collapse of the USSR, Russia has come to its present situation.

The book is based on several dozen in-depth and honest interviews with Russian ministers, politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen-primarily with Alexei Kudrin himself, Herman Gref, Anatoly Chubais, Alexander Voloshin, Igor Shuvalov, Tatiana Golikova and other key figures of our time. Thanks to these stories and a tremendous amount of research, the author was able to do what no one had been able to do before: restore the true picture and reveal the true mechanisms of economic policy in the era of Yeltsin and Putin.

Reviews

The book about Alexei Kudrin introduces us to an interesting and extraordinary man. He is one of those who entered life in the era of change that began in our country in the years of perestroika. They were different people, but they were united in the search for new ways of development of the country. Not everyone stood the test that the reformers had to go through. I think Alexei was successful because, in the words of the poet, he did not work for fame. He's a serious, convincing, energetic person with his own views of what kind of economy and financial system Russia should be. One may or may not agree with these views, but he has always defended them in an honest polemic, in the struggle of ideas. This was also evident when a rapidly changing situation required him to state his position on acute issues of social and political development of the country. Here he showed balance, integrity, the ability to defend his point of view. Alexei Kudrin certainly has prospects. He can do a lot for Russia.

Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the USSR

Twenty years ago the "Gaidar team" defined for itself three main directions of radical economic reform: privatization, liberalization, macroeconomic stabilization. And if today the results achieved in the first two directions are more than ambiguous, the macroeconomic situation in our country is quite in line with the reformers' ideals: a balanced budget, low inflation and unemployment, and minimal government foreign currency debt.

Of course, there are objective reasons for this stability (the main one being the high price of oil). But subjective reasons as well - first of all, the competence of the people who headed the financial authorities in recent years - did not play the least of it. Alexei Kudrin is one of these people, and probably the most important one. Therefore, the story of why he succeeded in stabilizing Russian finances, what happened to him before he worked in the government, and why he left it, is certainly worthy of attention.

Petr Aven, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Alfa Bank Group

This book is not only about Alexei Kudrin, a professional finance minister, but also about Russian economic policy in a broad sense. The book is written vividly, replete with interesting details. I believe that it will be of interest to the widest audience.

Evgeny Yasin, Scientific Director of the Higher School of Economics

There is a widespread belief that before the Yukos affair Vladimir Putin was at least an economic liberal. The book on Kudrin explains how it was, where it went, and why.

Leonid Parfyonov, journalist and broadcaster

The book is for those who are interested in the history of modern Russia, its political, economic and social structure, and are trying to figure out how it all began and where it might lead. The memories and stories of those who appear on the pages of this book, I am sure, will be much more important to attentive and interested readers than dry facts and official statistics.

Ruben Vardanian, Co-Head of Sberbank CIB