The first part of the paper analyzes the inflationary risks associated with price liberalization, the welfare costs of inflation and the difficulties of East European central banks in pursuing non-inflationary policies. The main obstacles are the low credibility of stabilization policies and a...

The paper analyzes the role of a multilateral payments union (PU) between East European countries (EEPU) as an intermediate solution in the process to full convertibility. After a description of the main functions of a PU, which is based on the historical model of the European Payments Union, it...

Russia is the world's biggest natural gas producer, with output of 581 bn m3 in 2001, and is also a key supplier of the European gas market (around 30% of current EU gas imports). Therefore gas exports rank with oil exports as an essential variable of Russian economic policy, and any...

Russia is the world's biggest natural gas producer, with output of 581 bn m3 in 2001, and is also a key supplier of the European gas market (around 30% of current EU gas imports). Therefore gas exports rank with oil exports as an essential variable of Russian economic policy, and...

La Russie, le premier producteur mondial de gaz avec 581 milliards de m3 en 2001 est aussi un fournisseur essentiel du marché gazier européen (30% environs des importations actuelles de l'Union européenne). Ainsi, au même titre que le pétrole, les exportations gazières sont une variable...