Since the late 1980s, Russia has repeatedly found itself at critical crossroads. There was a choice, there was an opportunity to fundamentally change the country’s future for the better and avoid another tragedy. In other words, over the past 35 years, Russia has repeatedly had a real alternative – to move along the path of creating a modern law governed state that protects life, freedom and human rights, build a highly efficient modern world-class market economy, follow the path of peace, not war (more on why and how the political system that led to 24 February, 2022 appeared in Russia: “Russia-2022: Underlying Causes” ).

In 1990, we created the Center for Economic and Political Research (EPIcenter), and in 1993 the Yabloko party, and at each historical crossroads we actively offered professional alternatives for solving key development tasks for Russia. As a rule, these were economically sound projects and programmes developed in detail by experts, based on knowledge of history, understanding of the state and characteristics of our country. In all cases, these were professional developments focused on the interests and needs of citizens, on the creation of an effective economic system. Literally, at every historical turn, at the most critical moments, our experts and specialists developed programme alternatives to the socio-economic policies and political course of the country’s leadership.

Specific proposals for a perspective solution to the most complex economic and political, often crisis-related problems were transferred directly to the authorities. The developments, as a rule, were handed over and explained directly to the top officials of the state – Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. Proposals for the development of the country and the construction of a modern efficient economy were presented to society eleven times as election programmes in parliamentary and presidential elections (more about the key alternatives: the “Forks in the Road” project).

Today we are facing a new critical fork in the road. This choice determines the future of Russia, Ukraine, Europe, and perhaps the entire world. We are talking about a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine, through the mediation of the US, the EU, as well as China and Brazil. The conclusion of such an agreement, first of all, will stop the senseless killing of people and the monstrous and often irreversible destruction, and will also open the way to negotiations about the future; and vice versa, the continuation of hostilities will further increase escalation and push all parties involved in one way or another to expand the scale of the military confrontation, including the use of weapons of mass destruction. If this happens, no one will be able to utter the platitude “who ever could have thought?” (more on why a ceasefire is necessary today).

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Grigory Yavlinsky spoke about the turning points in Russian history in a two-hour interview for the documentary “The Unfinished Time”. The interview in full, without editing, is here(the recording was made on 30 January, 2017). Little from this interview was included in the 10-part film.

0:00 How Grigory Yavlinsky got into politics
6:09 The 500 Days programme and it what way it differed from Yegor Gaidar’s reforms
15:51 The role of Mikhail Gorbachev, freedom and the collapse of the USSR
23:32 Preconditions for the coup in the spring and summer of 1991
28:31 The coup of 1991
31:08 Relations with Boris Yeltsin before and after the coup
38:47 Criticism of Yegor Gaidar’s reforms
41:59 Participation of Grigory Yavlinsky in the attempts to create an economic union instead of the USSR
47:57 The Belovezha Accords
52:15 The events of the coup of 1993 and their prerequisites
1:03:21 Relation with Boris Yeltsin’s team
1:06:26 Creation of Yabloko
1:09:06 Presidential elections of 1996
1:19:39 1998–1999: continuous reshufflings of Prime Ministers and default
1:22:41 Appointment of Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister and Successor, the Second War in Chechnya
1:31:39 Yavlinsky’s role in the appointment of Yevgeny Primakov as Prime Minister in 1998 and his resignation
1:34:42 Attempted impeachment of the president in 1999
1:36:06 Mistakes of 1990s as prerequisites for 2010s
1:41:01 Lustrations and assessments of the totalitarian past
1:46:38 Amnesty for the members of the State Emergency Committee (who organised the coup of 1991) and the participants in the coup of 1993
1:48:10 The First War in Chechnya
1:52:43 Pressure on Yavlinsky during the 1996 presidential elections
1:55:52 Boris Yeltsin as a person and as a political figure