ABSTRACT

It has been widely acknowledged in the last decade that the state of the post­ communist Russia is weak and disorganised while the economy suffers from the lack of formal rules. Establishing of the rule of law and increasing formalisation of rules are seen as the core element of market building. According to this view, the main progress is to be achieved by filling the gaps in the legislative and regulatory basis. Recently, this view was challenged by new expert claims that transitional period has been completed in Russia: nearly all-necessary formal institutional arrangements have already emerged, and the main task is to set the new legislation at work (Nesterenko 2001).