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Russia at the Denver Summit
Russia's role at the Summit of the Eight is another key step in
its integration into the political and economic institutions of
the industrial economies. Russia is reordering its economy along
market lines, democratic institutions are taking hold, and Russia
is deepening its ties with the international community and global
markets.
The Denver Summit: The Summit of the Eight is a milestone
in Russia's new role as an international partner committed to
democracy and competitive international markets. Building on
several years of successful coordination, the Eight will
strengthen cooperation on global challenges such as combating
international crime, drugs, terrorism, infectious diseases and
protecting the environment.
Past Russian involvement:
1992 Munich Summit: Chancellor Kohl invites President Yeltsin to
Munich, for a G-7 plus one discussion.
1993 Tokyo Summit: President Yeltsin returns in G-7 plus one
format, discussing the importance of Russia's economic and
political reform , and key political and regional issues of
common concern.
1994 Naples Summit: Russia joined in full discussion of regional
political issues, forming the P-8.
1995 Halifax Summit: The P-8 expanded its scope to include global
issues such as UN reform, crime, terrorism and non-proliferation
1996 Moscow Summit: President Yeltsin hosted a nuclear safety and
security summit
1996 Lyon Summit: The Eight established action plans and working
groups on global issues.
Economic Transformation: Russia has made significant
progress toward macroeconomic stabilization; inflation is now at
15% down from 131% in 1995, and the ruble has remained steady.
Markets are now the key determinant of resource allocation, with
the private economy producing 70% of Russia s national income and
employing 55% of the workforce. Private banks, capital markets
and commodity exchanges are flourishing and have replaced
government ministries as the new institutions underpinning
Russian economic life. As Russia moves to the next stage of
reform, the IMF and the World Bank are committed to support bold
Russian initiatives in areas such as tax and legal reform,
adapting the social safety net to Russia s market initiatives in
areas such as tax and legal reform, adapting the social safety
net to Russia s market economy, fighting crime and corruption,
curbing monopolies and completing privatization.
Integration into International Economic System: Russia's
steady integration into the international economic and financial
system accelerates the development of a truly global, open
market. At the Helsinki Summit, Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin
committed to a joint initiative to stimulate investment and
growth in Russia, deepen U.S.-Russian economic ties and
accelerate Russia s integration into the international economic
system. They set a target for Russia to meet membership
requirements for the Paris Club in 1997 and the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in 1998 and to make considerable progress
toward accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).
Democratic Development: Russia has demonstrated steady
progress in building a democratic political system. In just a
year, Russia completed parliamentary elections in December 1995,
a presidential election in July 1996 and regional elections by the
end of 1997 -- putting democratically elected officials firmly in
charge of national and local politics. Russia now has its
strongest and most reform-oriented government team since 1992.
The continued normalization of political reform is perhaps the
best guarantee of enduring stability.
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