ABSTRACT
The process of economic reform in Russia, in relation to the operation of enterprises, has gone through a number of stages. In 1987 legal changes allowed enterprises to operate free from ministry controls and with the ability to establish their own links with suppliers and customers. However, it is indicative of the traditional patterns of enterprise management that they did not immediately seize these opportunities. An important stimulus to managerial autonomy in relation to the internal structures of enterprises came with the 1989 law on co-operatives, which gave management autonomy to create cooperatives within their own organizations. These operated outside ministerial controls on wages and the tax regime for enterprises. The first permissive regulation at the end of the 1980s relating to the ownership of enterprises was concerned with the leasing (arenda) of enterprises from the ministries; this gave enterprises freedom to reform their internal structures.1
