Thread: Change from Communism to ?????

I'm very curious about something, but also very ignorant about the same thing. Maybe someone here will be kind enough to help me out.
When the Russian economy changed because of the fall of Communism in 1989 or 1990 (I also forget the exact year), how did this happen? I've read quite a number of books that talk about this period, but none of them have answered this.
What I mean is this:
1. Am I more-or-less correct in thinking that the Russian government (which was also in transition itself so I'm not sure about what I mean by "Russian government" in this sense) sell the property that it then owned to the highest bidder?
2. My fiance, who is a Russian woman living now in Kirov, told me something very interesting that happened to her around 1990 (or so, now I do not remember exactly the year). She went to a local store to buy milk and there was NOTHING on the shelves. Can someone also explain this to me? Why was there no food on the shelves at that time? How long did that last?
3. This elates to question 1. Was the manner of the changeover correct in your opinion? Could it have been done in a better way? Did the change effect, for better or worse, the present economy of Russia?
I will greatly appreciate any answers to these questions. Thanks.

Originally Posted by ronnoc37

1. Am I more-or-less correct in thinking that the Russian government (which was also in transition itself so I'm not sure about what I mean by "Russian government" in this sense) sell the property that it then owned to the highest bidder?

Not quite. Actually, some of the government property was sold this way, and some was sold of at so-called voucher auctions. Each (or almost each) Russian citizen was given a so-called privatization voucher which s/he could use to buy some shares of an enterprise of his or her choice. S/he could also sell it or invest in a so-called voucher fund etc. I used mine to buy some shares of one of the best known Moscow department stores and it duly pays me dividends amounting to 10 cents or so a year , which I can't be bothered to collect. Actually, privatization is a very controversial subject in Russia. Many people think that it was illegal or was conducted in an illegal fashion. If you want more detail, just try googling for "privatization in Russia", you'll get enough results to keep you busy for quite some time.

Originally Posted by ronnoc37

2. My fiance, who is a Russian woman living now in Kirov, told me something very interesting that happened to her around 1990 (or so, now I do not remember exactly the year). She went to a local store to buy milk and there was NOTHING on the shelves. Can someone also explain this to me? Why was there no food on the shelves at that time? How long did that last?

That's true, the second half of 1990 and most of 1991 were like this. That were the last years of Gorbachov's rule. What most westerners don't realize is that Gorby was an incompetent ruler, although a very capable demagogue. He wasn't stupid and he clearly understood that some changes in our society are needed. However, he lacked the genius anf the guts required to plan the exact steps that could have healed our economy and made our society more liberal without greatly destabilizing it, and to implement that plan. To be fair, I must admit that it would take a truly great, exceptional leader to reform the society AND keep it stable in the same time (if that was possible at all). Gorbachov wasn't neither great or exceptional. He might have been well-meaning, but his reforms kept failing one after another.

Now, you must realize that the Soviet Union wasn't exactly a land of abundance even at the best of times. There were always shortages of various goods and foodstuffs. All the supply distribution was centralized, some cities were always getting a greater share of goods tham the others.

For example, Moscow was always supplied better than most of the other cities, and people from Ivanovo and Vladimir used to come to Moscow on weekends to buy sausage, butter, cheese, instant coffee and things like that, which were easy to buy in Moscow and almost impossible to find in stores in those other cities.

But in 1990/91, even Moscow foodstores were empty. We were issued ration cards for tobacco, alcohol, dairy butter, sugar etc. In other towns, things were even worse. As I mentioned earlier, I think that it was Gorbachov's incompetence as a leader that caused that situation. I also think that food shortages were one of the things that precipitated the fall of the Communist regime. Everyone saw that something was very wrong here. Both old-guard communists and pro-western liberals realized that something had to be done about this, even if they had very different ideas regarding what should be done.

Originally Posted by ronnoc37

She went to a local store to buy milk and there was NOTHING on the shelves. Can someone also explain this to me? Why was there no food on the shelves at that time? How long did that last?

If everyone has enough money to buy everyting, there wouldn't be enough goods for everyone. Such situation was created by state-regulated prices. When prices were set free, it resulted in inflation, but at the same time shortages have gone.

During Soviet times there was shortage of everything. Now we lack only one thing - money. Actually, shortage of goods and shortage of money are two sides of the same medal, called economy.

Originally Posted by ronnoc37

I'm very curious about something, but also very ignorant about the same thing. Maybe someone here will be kind enough to help me out.
When the Russian economy changed because of the fall of Communism in 1989 or 1990 (I also forget the exact year)

If you're talking about end of USSR, it's 1991.
However, this event hardly can be termed as "fall of Communism". (In 1991, there already wasn't so much of "Communism" to fall.)

Originally Posted by ronnoc37

I've read quite a number of books that talk about this period, but none of them have answered this.
What I mean is this:
1. Am I more-or-less correct in thinking that the Russian government (which was also in transition itself so I'm not sure about what I mean by "Russian government" in this sense) sell the property that it then owned to the highest bidder?

No. The property government possesed wasn't sold at all -- it was, actually, just presented to the some groups of the "businessmen", which were closely affiliated to government itself.

Originally Posted by ronnoc37

2. My fiance, who is a Russian woman living now in Kirov, told me something very interesting that happened to her around 1990 (or so, now I do not remember exactly the year). She went to a local store to buy milk and there was NOTHING on the shelves. Can someone also explain this to me? Why was there no food on the shelves at that time? How long did that last?

Not much surprising. In 1990, there was mostly empty shelves not only in Kirov (Vyatka?), but even in Moscow.
How did this happen? The short answer: because the old, soviet-type economy, already was practically destroyed, and nothing new was founded in its place. In 1990-91 large parts of Soviet Union had quite a feudalised economy, with "ration cards", custom controls on the internal borders (!), etc.

Originally Posted by ronnoc37

3. This elates to question 1. Was the manner of the changeover correct in your opinion? Could it have been done in a better way? Did the change effect, for better or worse, the present economy of Russia?

Definitely, it could be done in better way! I'm just not quite sure, could it all be done in worse way. IMHO, unprobable.

I'm confused about how the "privatization" works for apt owners. On the news this summer there have been many stories about these next few months being the last chance for filling out apt privatization documents. Our paperwork was done in the 90's but now that we want to change flats there are lots of questions. In America if you own property you can sell it and put the cash in the bank, your mattress, or spend it any way you choose. But all my Russian friends say that a privatized apt can be changed for another but not for cash. Can anyone explain the current laws on this?

Originally Posted by JB

But all my Russian friends say that a privatized apt can be changed for another but not for cash. Can anyone explain the current laws on this?

I don't know... you can sell privatized flat anytime you want. It's non-privatized flat that can't be sold, but only changed for another.

Originally Posted by JB

I'm confused about how the "privatization" works for apt owners. On the news this summer there have been many stories about these next few months being the last chance for filling out apt privatization documents. Our paperwork was done in the 90's but now that we want to change flats there are lots of questions. In America if you own property you can sell it and put the cash in the bank, your mattress, or spend it any way you choose. But all my Russian friends say that a privatized apt can be changed for another but not for cash. Can anyone explain the current laws on this?

I'd also appreciate an explanation on this if there's any Russian property experts out there. My girlfriend 'owns' an apartment in Krasnoyarsk, and has papers to prove it dating from the early nineties. However, if she's not to lose all the rights to 'her' apartment, then she now has to go through some other process involving further registration (and additional cost, naturally !), and this needs to be done by a certain date this year.

Can anyone please enlighten us ?

Originally Posted by JB

I'm confused about how the "privatization" works for apt owners. On the news this summer there have been many stories about these next few months being the last chance for filling out apt privatization documents. Our paperwork was done in the 90's but now that we want to change flats there are lots of questions. In America if you own property you can sell it and put the cash in the bank, your mattress, or spend it any way you choose. But all my Russian friends say that a privatized apt can be changed for another but not for cash. Can anyone explain the current laws on this?

Maybe, your friends are talking about unprivatized apt??? This makes some sense, because there are more restrictions here.

The privatized apt is just like a regular property. You can buy it, sell it, bequeath it or even give away as a gift, if you like

Does anybody have a website or link to Russian property law? I've read a lot of realty company's question and answer sites but they are not very clear. Also is it true that you can buy an apt only to find out that someone else has documents giving them the right to live there even though you own it?