ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the general environmental situation that existed in 1992–1993 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a national entity and some of the more important ways in which the fifteen new nations differ from one another. The nature of the economic problem in most of the former Soviet republics can be appreciated by the following example from the Baltic states. In many of the former republics, economic development may well be given a short-term priority over environmental enhancement, echoing a philosophy found both in numerous developing nations, as well as in developed ones during hard economic times. The interests of minority populations have environmental implications. The Tatar Republic for a while in 1990s voiced its desire for greater political sovereignty, implying that much of the extensive oil deposits within the Russian Federation could eventually be controlled locally, rather than from Moscow.
