In the economy

There are no complaints about Ulyukaev or Siluanov

November 28, 2014 Evgeny Yasin

In general, the economic block of the government is now underway a more or less correct policy. There are no special claims to Ulyukaev, nor Siluanov. The Ministry of Finance works in the direction of reducing expenses, and this is his powers, they should do this. And although I do not quite like some steps, they do what they can. And the fact that Ulyukaev attracts attention to the need for a wider view of things, liberalizing the economy, searching for some new approaches than those that have been used so far is very important.

However, in general, the actions of the government, including these ministers and the prime minister, are largely subordinated to the decisions of the president and his advisers. And this is very noticeable, because the country's policy during 2014 was not the one that the heads of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development are currently talking about. There is a collision of two different positions. One adheres to an economic block. The second is the emphasis on strength, on methods characteristic of operation in Ukraine, support for state and friendly to the President of private companies, megaprojects, and so on. I don't like this line. But if you work in the government and appreciate your place, you do what the highest source of power requires.

Therefore, I cannot agree that the government should be resigned, and Medvedev is replaced by Kudrin, about which rumors in Moscow offices go. This does not reflect the essence of the events. The main thing now is the struggle between the two directions: the course for power methods and the state control and the course on the liberalization of the economy, the more entrepreneurship and improve the investment climate. The second option seems absolutely necessary to me, and as a long -term course. Because in the short term, in a few months, to fix everything and go to some acceptable level in this way.

We must continue the line that arose after the market reforms of the early 90s. In the late 90s and early 2000s, she was rolled up, and instead, another, focused on strengthening the role of the state. Until 2008, in connection with the growth of oil prices, this line gave the results: we restored the position of the economy to the values ​​of the 80s, doubled the standard of living compared to 1998. This is not to say that this did not have to be done. But now there are no factors on which then relied. Another situation has developed, and again a similar choice arose.

The current government is ready to continue work and engage in the necessary reforms. Ulyukaev directly speaks of this need. Most likely this position is held by others, for example, Shuvalov, as well as the leadership of the Central Bank. In this regard, the economic bloc adheres to a common position. At the same time, they all try not to conflict and fulfill the will of the president. And he has other advisers, whose influence is also obvious.

The peculiarity of the situation in which we are in is that changing one line to another is extremely difficult. And due to the personal features of specific people in power, and due to the fact that such processes proceed slowly. It is necessary to involve a very large number of people, spread certain skills, mechanisms, and so on. We are talking about very serious institutional changes. And those people who have a desire to win in the game “with a zero sum” requires immediate actions: to send troops to Ukraine or come up with something else in this kind. Yes, this is done quickly, but then it brings the opposite result.


Photo by TASS/ Valery Sharifulin