The transition process to free market economy in Russia and 2008 global crisis

The answer to the question of why Russian economy has not been affected from today’s global crisis as much as industrialized European countries is very important. Russia which had rapidly liberalized its markets at the beginning of 1990’s, has partially succeeded in removing mechanisms in it economy which barrier free competition. By 2000, Russian government has moved to new era in which economical interests based on energy sources are evaluated with a priority. In this era, on the one hand Russia is trying to provide market economy conditions in order to integrate into the world; on the other hand it is also striving to make economical growth based on energy sources sustainable. However when this process is analyzed, we understand that it is necessary to question free market perception in Russia. In this study first of all theoretical findings in the literature about transition economies are handled and then methodological differences or varieties in terms of the transition are discussed. After a general macro economical evaluation of all transition economies, policies of Russian economy with in the period of transition and their results are evaluated under four headings. Finally, affects of the global crisis to Russian economy are introduced.