Economic Reform Conference

This document is an editorial report from Moscow Television Service regarding a news conference held on 15 November 1990, concerning an all-union scientific and practical conference on radical economic reform in the USSR. Leonid Ivanovich Abalkin, Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, addressed the conference, which concluded after three days of discussions. The primary focus of the conference was the transition from a nonmarket to a market economy, the development of necessary infrastructure, and the implementation of republican financial autonomy. Abalkin emphasized that while consensus on specific details was difficult to achieve, the fundamental need for reform was recognized. He noted that the transition period would be turbulent and required careful management of public opinion. The report includes questions from various international correspondents, including those from TASS, BTA, the Financial Times, and El Pais, covering topics such as the role of the Congress, the potential for public opposition to private ownership, and the introduction of a system of rationing or parallel currency.