Девяностые
What Happened to the Money
C1 · Advanced · non-fiction · 10 scenes · Premium story
An advanced account of what happened to Russian money in the 1990s, and why the decade is remembered as one thing when it was four. Prices were freed overnight in January 1992 and a lifetime of savings came to the price of a dinner — not confiscated, simply worth nothing, which turned out to be worse. Then a privatisation voucher for every citizen, sold outside metro stations for the price of a pair of boots; then years in which the money kept its value but never reached anyone, and factories paid their workers in saucepans; then the checked bags on the night trains that actually stocked the shops. It ends with the redenomination of January 1998 and the default seven months later, and with the argument itself: both sides of it remember accurately, they disagree about what to call the cost, and the story sets out each reading without settling between them.
Characters
- The depositors (Вкладчики) — Sberbank, 1991-1992
- The voucher holders (Владельцы ваучеров) — 1992-1994
- The shuttle traders (Челноки) — Every border, every week
- The two memories (Две памяти) — Still arguing
Vocabulary from this story
- деньги — money
- рубль — rouble
- копейка — kopeck
- купюра — banknote
- ноль — zero
- цена — price
- зарплата — wages
- сбережения — savings
- вклад — deposit
- курс — exchange rate
- доллар — dollar
- обмен — exchange