Non-payments in the Russian economy in the 1990s: An unforeseen institution

Abstract

Among the large-scale processes that caused the greatest damage to the Russian economy and population in the 1990s and significantly undermined the prestige of the reformers, non-payments occupied a special place. To minimize their negative impact, long-time efforts were made by the government, the presidential administration and business (the author of this article had to actively participate in this). The article describes the scale, depth and duration of this phenomenon, analyzes the descriptions of its causes and ways to overcome it presented in the scientific literature, proposes the author’s understanding of the causes and real mechanisms of solution, formulates additions to the original concept of reform developed by a group of Moscow and Leningrad scientists in the second half of the 1980-x.