Contested currency

The 1990s were a difficult decade for the ruble, the Soviet currency that in 1991 became the common currency for all fifteen post-Soviet states, and by 1995 had become Russia's currency only. Within Russia the ruble was systematically rejected by firms and citizens in favor of complicated barter arrangements, leaving many important sectors of the Russian economy essentially demonetized. Several of Russia's provinces issued their own currencies, and many financial institutions and firms issued monetary surrogates, undermining the Russian state's monopoly on the definition of money. And the ruble fared little better outside of Russia. The ruble was subject to severe exchange-rate instability, as well as repeated speculative attacks. Several post-Soviet governments rejected the "occupation ruble" in early 1992 and introduced their own, national currencies. The experience of the ruble during the first post-Soviet decade illuminates three of the most important issues in the politics of Russia and the former Soviet Union. First, money was a critical nexus between economic reform and state building within Russia. Second, Russia's internal debates about the ruble zone mirrored broader debates about Russian national and state identities, particularly as they related to the rest of the post-Soviet Eurasia. Third, the decline and fall of the ruble zone reveals a great deal about how the other fourteen successor states, and the societies living within them, viewed their relations with Russia and among themselves.