Russia loses one of its best statesmen with Chernomyrdin’s death

Author: Olga Vasilyeva Section: Major Events of the Month

Issue: Our Yearend Report

Tags: Chernomyrdin

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Irreplaceable Loss

Long before his death Victor Chernomyrdin had already gone down in history as the savior of post-Soviet Russia for his radical reformation of the economy from the state centralized and regulated economy to free-market capitalism in the 1990s.

Exemplary career for a typical representative of the Soviet nomenclature, he rose through the career ladder, moving from a factory mechanic up to an interim president in 1996, when he temporarily replaced President Yeltsin during his heart surgery.

Many of his statements, such as ‘we had wanted to do it better, but the result has turned out as usual,’ have long become national sayings, for their apt implications. His death means a big irreplaceable loss for Russia.