Yegor Timurovich Gaidar (Russian: Его́р Тиму́рович
Гайда́р) (born March 19, 1956) is a Russian economist and
politician, and was the acting Prime Minister of Russia from June 15 1992 to December 14 1992. He is the grandson of famous Soviet writers Arkady Gaidar (on the side
of his father, Rear Admiral Timur Gaidar) and of Pavel
Bazhov (on his mother's side).
Professional life
Gaidar graduated with honors from the Moscow State University, Department of
Economics, in 1978 and worked as a researcher in several academic institutes. A long-time member of the Communist Party and an editor of the CPSU ideological journal Communist during the
perestroika, he turned a liberal during the time of Yeltsin's reforms. In 1991 he quit the Communist Party and joined Yeltsin's government.
While in government, Gaidar advocated liberal economic reforms according to the principle of shock therapy. His most well-known decision was to abolish price regulation by the state,
which immediately resulted in a major increase of prices and amounted to officially authorizing a market economy in Russia. He also cut military procurement and industrial subsidies, and reduced the
budget deficit. Gaidar was the Minister of Economic Development from 1991 until 1992, and Minister of Finance from February 1992
until April 1992.
He was appointed acting Prime Minister under President Boris Yeltsin in 1992 from June 15 until December 14, when the anti-Yeltsin Congress of People's
Deputies refused to confirm him in this position and chose instead the seemingly more statist Viktor Chernomyrdin. Gaidar was also the First Deputy Prime
Minister from 1991 until 1992 and again from September 1993 until January 1994.
After 1994
Later in 1994, after leaving the government, he became a founding member and chairman of the Democratic Choice of Russia party. In 1999, he became a founding member and co-chairman,
along with his longtime political ally Anatoly Chubais of the Union of Right Forces. He served as a deputy of the State Duma
from 1999 to 2003. In 2001 the Democratic Choice Party merged into the Union of Right Forces. After URF's failure to regain seats
in the parliament in 2003, Gaidar gradually retired from public political activities, concentrating on research in economics.
Yegor Gaidar has over 100 publications in Australia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Hungary,Ireland, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, UK, USA, and by international institutions.
Yegor Gaidar just published a new book, "Lasting time. Russia in the World." (Russian) where he criticized the economic
policies of Putin's administration. In this book, he completed a meticulous analysis of the close relationship between the energy
prices and political events in Russia. He justified that one of main reasons behind the Soviet
Union's fall was the low price of oil. Prices were also low during Yeltsin's rule, which was a serious problem that made
political and economic reforms in the country very difficult. According to Gaidar, it is wrong to rely only on oil and gas (as
the current Russian government is doing), as it creates only a false impression of prosperity and stability in the country. He
argued that a lot more must be done to promote real economic development.
Positions held
- Director of the Institute for the Economy in Transition www.iet.ru
- Executive Vice-President of the International Democratic Union
(Conservative International)
- Steering Committee member "Arrabida Meetings" (Portugal)
- Member of the Baltic Sea Cooperation Council under the Prime-Minister of Sweden
- Member of the Editorial Board of "Vestnik Evropy" (Moscow)
- Member of the Advisory Board of the "Acta Oeconomica" (Budapest)
- Member of the Advisory Board of the CASE Foundation (Warsaw)
Honorary positions
- Honorary Professor, University of California, Berkeley.
- Terry Sanford Distinguished Lecturer, Duke University
- Honorary Academy member of the Ukrainian Academy of Management
- Honorary Director, Russia- Ukraine Institute for Personnel and Management
2006 illness
On November 28, 2006, Yegor Gaidar was found unconscious in
County Kildare, Ireland where he had been presenting his
new book Lasting Time: Russia in the World. He was taken to a Dublin hospital and doctors say there is no serious threat
to his health. There have been suspicions of a poisoning but Gaidar and his close ally Anatoly
Chubais have refrained from accusing the Russian
Security Service.[1]
On December 6 2006, Gaidar claimed in an op-ed published in
both Russian-language and English-language publications, that he was poisoned by adversaries of the Russian authorities. He did
not elaborate on who these adversaries may be.
Talks and interviews
At a talk show with Yevgenia Albats on June 17, 2007, Gaidar predicted a probable
sequence of future political events in Russia based on his personal sources and expertise. In response to one-sided recognition
of Kosovo by Western powers, Russia will recognize independence of Abkhazia and South Osetia. This will lead to a military conflict of
Russia and Georgia, urgent changes in Russian Constitution, and Vladimir Putin remaining in his presidential position for a long time [1].
References
External links
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