Title: Boris Yeltsin – Russiapedia Leaders Prominent Russians
Headings: Prominent Russians:
Boris Yeltsin

Prominent Russians: Boris Yeltsin
February 1, 1931 – April 23, 2007

Content: Their so-called Belavezha Accords declared the Soviet Union dissolved, replacing it with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Facing the inevitable, Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991. Two days later, Boris Yeltsin moved into Gorbachev’s former office, taking the reins of the new Russia. Yeltsin came to power on a wave of optimism, hailing a new era of democracy and economic freedom. Instead, the country plunged into chaos. Just days after the USSR’s dissolution, the government embarked on a series of unprecedented reforms along the lines of “shock therapy”. A shift towards market-oriented economy and massive privatisation shook a country that was used to state control to the core. The wild-west capitalism meant poverty for many and staggering wealth for the few, as well as crippling economic depression, soaring inflation and rampant crime and corruption. Salaries weren’t paid and many pensioners saw their lifelong savings wiped out. The reforms soon became widely resented, seen as “shock without therapy”.