Former Deputy Prime Minister, ex-head of RAO UES and Rusnano, President’s Special Representative for Relations with International Organizations Anatoly Chubais in the documentary “Fortress” named one of the main saviors of the Russian economy during the 1998 crisis. Excerpts from the film are provided by TASS.
According to Chubais, he was the current head of the Accounts Chamber and former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. In 1998, he held several positions, including the Governor for Russia at the International Monetary Fund and Deputy Governor for Russia at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“At some point, by coincidence, I am told that the question of life and death is the IMF [International Monetary Fund] loans,” Chubais noted. “It is impossible to go through [the crisis] without a large IMF package. Drop everything, do what if you want, but get loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank [World]. Actually, Alexey [Kudrin] threw everything, he helped actively in this matter then. “
According to Chubais, Kudrin in a short time was able to “work out an integral procedure” with the participation of the Central Bank, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance and the State Property, and then “go with it to the IMF and force them to make a decision on support.”
“Such a decision, which seemed, frankly, absolutely impossible then. It was a big battle. The stage ended in triumph. We received $ 24 billion. Incredible, fantastic,” Chubais said.