The contours of a new Banking System in the dissolving Soviet Union

The official dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 followed by the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States had put an end to the one-and-a-half year long "war" between the Gosbank (former State Bank of the USSR) and the central banks of republics. The consequences of this confrontation had a shuttering impact on the recent development of the banking System and the entire economic Situation in all former Soviet republics. There are hardly any winners left: the Bank of Russia (Central Bank of Russian Federation) - the main inheritor of the former Gosbank - confronts numerous problems in reconstructing the whole banking system. These problems comprise foremost the elaboration of the new legislative banking framework, the strengthening of the real independence of the central bank and the installation of effective Systems of banking supervision. Though commercial banks in Russia continue to expand their activities it would be wrong to take their future success for granted. The growing rates of inflation accompanied by heavy taxation and administrative restrictions make banking in Russia one of the most risky business nowadays. Overviewing the present controversial stage of the post-Soviet banking system this paper aims to follow the main tendencies in its current development.