ABSTRACT
This article discusses the status, issues, and implications of the planned lending by international financial institutions (IFIs) to the Soviet successor states. It first reviews the background of the relationship between the Soviet Union and international lenders. After the country dissolved, full membership of the successor states in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) replaced limited participation, with the IFIs leading international support for post-Soviet reforms. The paper also examines the role of the IFIs in 361the Group of Seven (G–7) aid package for Russia, which has made the most progress in undertaking reform. It then discusses two issues: (1) the amount of external resources required by the successor states and whether they have been forthcoming; and (2) the implications of the EBRD’s political conditionality for the IMF and World Bank.
