Russia Tomorrow

A well-known banker uttered a paradoxical thought: not only did we believe that Russia was somehow unique, a country with the potential for a wondrous transformation not governed by general economic laws, but we were evidently able to convince our Western partners of the same point. For this reason, in 1996 and 1997 they invested large sums of money in the Russian economy—approximately $20 billion in short-term treasury bonds (GKOs) and federal loan bonds (OFZs) alone. They also invested in Eurobonds, as well as pouring money into the stock exchange and bond market. Altogether these sums total $25-26 billion. Direct capital investments were also made.