During the election in 1989, there was the first Soviet election with alternative candidates to local government. I myself arranged special training for them.
Each university should have a Young Scholars' Committee. I became the chairman of this Committee, and immediately it was permitted to have this plan officially adopted.
For the producers, there was no reason to produce. You get money, but you couldn't use this money. For consumers, you could have money, but you have no way to use it because you go to the shop and see nothing.
I joined the city government, and we start to operate as the bureaucrats on the local level, so we were the only ones in the whole Russian team who were experienced in practical bureaucratic management in the complicated condition of 1990.
I'm communicating with the directors of the Soviet companies, and I see that it is wrong, but when I go to the official discussions, they discuss we should change the color of the walls.
If I just produce the transparent ideal accepted by the Western experts, a process of privatization which will be very good but never happen, that means nothing.
In 1995 the whole political situation was very complicated. I was the first deputy prime minister, and at the same time I had very low influence in the government.
The directors thought, They understand nothing in the real economy, in real life. They read some stupid books, and they came from the moon to the earth, and maybe in one month they will disappear.
