ABSTRACT
Shock therapy transformed the economy in Poland into a market system. In Russia, however, it seemed less suited to local conditions. Russian political culture was different and more resistant to the idea of capitalism and the market. The chief distinguishing characteristic of the Soviet economy was its explicitly political nature. Unlike in the market, there was no invisible hand in the Soviet Union; no neutral arbiter which determined the behaviour of consumers and the economic units within the system. Chubais was educated at the Leningrad Institute of Technology and Engineering. He entered politics comparatively late and rose rapidly to head the privatisation reforms from 1992. The first group was the old nomenklatura, whose power remained rooted in the state, and their influence was largely political and a result of their position within the state. Inflation had decreased to under 15 per cent for the year and positive growth was registered for the first time since 1989.
