Post-Soviet Russia

1. Post-Soviet Russia

2. Politics • Mikhail Gorbachev was the first and last president of the Soviet Union • On Dec. 21st, 1991, he dissolved the USSR and then resigned from his position on Christmas night

3. Boris Yeltsin • Yeltsin became the first elected president of Russia in June, 1992 • Barely a year later he was already having problems with the Parliament, who was blocking, overturning, and ignoring his initiatives to expand democracy and draft a new constitution.

4. In September of 1993, Yeltsin dissolved the Parliament and called for new elections • In December, a new Parliament was elected and a new constitution approved • By mid-96, Russians had participated in 3 elections: 2 legislative and 1 presidential • When Yeltsin was re-elected to office, this was a big step for him and the Russian voters: this was the first time a head of state had been subjected to public scrutiny and still approved for a second term.

5. By this point, the government was still a strange mixture of Soviet and Western governance • Yeltsin resigned on Dec. 31st, 1999, and Vladimir Putin was elected in March 2000. • This election, along with the Parliament election of ’99, was judged as being free and fair by the international community

6. Economic Situation • The economy has undergone tremendous stress during the transition to a free market system • While democracy introduced new freedoms to Russians, they also lost the social security net provided by Marxism-Leninism, which had guaranteed employment, basic medical care, and government subsidies for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation • This loss caused social and economic downturns for many Russians

7. The gap widen between the richest and the poorest. By ’95, 56% of respondents in a survey had replied that their material situation had declined; only 17% replied as having improved • In ’98, Russia faced a serious financial crisis due to the implementation of fiscal reforms and a large dependence on short-term borrowing • In the following year, however, Russia was able to raise it’s real GDP to the highest it had been since the fall of the Soviet Union

8. In 2000-01, Russia met its external debt services and made large advance repayments on IMF loans and still remains current on its foreign debt • Since ’99, the standard of living has been on the rise but almost one-third of the population still did not meet the minimum subsistence level of money income • The Ministry of Economic Development estimates that the number of people under the subsistence will gradually decrease by 23-25% by 2005

9. Foreign Relations

10. Russia has taken steps to participate fully on the international stage • Dec. 27th, 1991- Russia assumes the USSR’s seat in the UN Security Council as one of the P5 • 1994- signed the NATO Partnership for Peace and a partnership and cooperation agreement with the EU • 1997- signed NATO-Russia Founding Act; this paved the way for a smoother partnership between Russia and the Alliance • Russia has also become a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC)

11. General Info • Human rights have improved, but there are still reports of beatings and torturing of detainees and inmates by law enforcement and correctional officers. A “human rights ombundsman” has been appointed by the Parliament in ’97 • Judicial system In ’01, the Parliament passed the Criminal Procedural Code which helped align Russia’s judicial system with that of the West

12. HIV/AIDS Russia and the Ukraine are said to have the highest growth rates of HIV infection the world; it seems to be mostly due to IV drug use • Industry Russia is one of the most industrialized nations of the former Soviet Union; years of very low investment, however, have left most industry antiquated and highly inefficient