The ruble drops. Bread prices jump. Panic buyers rush to get flour. Week by week, the Vladivostok News has traced the course of the ruble crisis. Here are our stories on how Vladivostok was hit by same crisis that knocked the wind out Russia's market reforms. Note: These stories are filed in the Vladivostok News' archives. To return to the current issue, click on your browser's "back" button until you see this page.

Issue 174 Aug. 21, 1998 'The situation is chaotic' Devaluation leaves Far East nervous By Russell Working This spring Vladivostok pensioner Inna Kryuchkova had accumulated 5,000 rubles (then about $819) in the state Sberbank, but she was getting nervous. News analysis Analysts uneasy over ruble's fall By Mike Eckel Call it a devaluation. Call it a widening of the currency corridor. Call it a default. Euphemisms won't disguise the nature of the economic situation now. Text of the government's devaluation statement [Back to the top]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us] Update 174 Aug. 28, 1998 Food costs jump with ruble's fall By Janina de Guzman Browsing the through the brightly lit Riviera food shop, you'd hardly think anything was amiss. Shoppers bustle in and out of the store located in the First River area, stopping to sample paprika- and sour cream-flavored chips offered as part of a Pringles promotion. Few think new government will improve Vladivostok life By Russell Working Tatiana Nikulina gets by selling foreign clothes and shoes in the Second River Market, but every time she goes home to her Second River apartment she does a slow burn. She hasn't had water for four months. Kiriyenko's fall sets bureaucrats chattering Around the country, it seemed everyone had something to say about Yeltsin's dismissal of Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko and appointment of Viktor Chernomyrdin as acting prime minister. Here are reactions from several regions, reported by Interfax-Eurasia. Miners say new government reneges on deal By Russell Working and Nonna Chernyakova Striking Sakhalin coal miners say the firing of Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko and his cabinet threatens an agreement to pay workers back wages and may force them to again shut down the power supply throughout the island. [Back to the top]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us] Issue 175 Sept. 4, 1998 All eyes are on the ruble By Janina de Guzman It is dinnertime at Vladivostok's popular Pizza M restaurant and all eyes are glued to the tube. Clients strain forward, anticipating the latest statistics -- and they're not interested in rebounds or corner kicks. They're hungry for the dollar-ruble exchange rate. Crisis cuts off credit card holders from U.S. dollars By Russell Working By the time Pat Martin showed up Monday at Dalrybbank's Hotel Hyundai branch carrying her Visa card, she scarcely dared hope she could get any money. U.S.-Russia working group off By Mike Eckel Citing financial difficulties and political concerns on Sakhalin and in Russia as a whole, the Russian Far East/U.S. West Coast Ad Hoc Working Group has canceled its annual meeting to be held Sept. 28-30 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. [Back to the top]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us] Update 175 Sept. 11, 1998 Ship of state Papers throughout Russia printed a computer-altered photo featuring President Yeltsin and his now-failed acting prime minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin, as lovers on the bow of the doomed Titanic. Novosti, Vladivostok's screamingly sensationalist daily, headlined the picture, "Russia may fall apart into regions." And Komsomolskaya Pravda printed the caption, "It's not funny, although we'll get 11 Oscars." Somehow the image of people waiting for the seas to swamp a mighty ship hit home around Russia. Pensioners worry as bread costs rise By Janina de Guzman This week, Vladivostok residents did something they haven't done for a while -- queue for bread. And then pay more for it. Ruble woes drive up cost of bread, eggs, oil By Mike Eckel Prices for basic food staples in Primorye have jumped sharply in the 25 days since the ruble was devalued, and the situation is becoming critical, administration officials said Sept. 7. Krai announces price control By Mike Eckel Following the lead of other regions throughout Russia, Primorye officials announced price controls on a wide range of staples Sept 9. An open letter from Vladkhleb to the residents of Vladivostok When bread prices rose, Valkhleb, a bakery, asked the krai and city for help in holding down prices. Here is a letter it wrote, published in the Vladivostok Sept. 9. Ruble slump hurts Chinese traders By Russell Working USSURISK - During a trip home to China this summer, Jin Lian Sun invested $1,129 in leather coats of a style she thought she could sell in Russia as autumn approached. [Back to the top]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us] Issue 176 Sept. 18, 1998 Alaska Airlines halts flights to Far East By Mike Eckel The Russian Far East has just gotten a little bit farther away. The Seattle-based Alaska Airlines announced that beginning Oct. 8 it will halt its weekly winter service between Seattle and the Russian Far East. Krai leaders support Primakov By Mike Eckel Political leaders and observers in Primorye are offering tentative support to the country's new prime minister Yevgeny Primakov. But they're making uncertain predictions about what Primorye might get out of it all. Duma seeks to shore up food, medicine reserves By Janina de Guzman In a move to ease the squeeze on wallets brought on by the ruble devaluation, the krai administration and Primorye Duma is taking steps to shore up reserves of food and medicine, combat skyrocketing prices, prevent tax evasion, and seek a source of food for the winter ahead. [Back to the top]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us] Update 176 Sept. 25, 1998 Crisis slows out-of-town bus traffic The ruble crisis is causing hard times for the normally busy Vladivostok Bus Station in the Second River suburb, leaving inter-city buses half-empty even on weekends and holidays. Issue 177 Oct. 2, 1998 Vlad News bids print readers farewell By Russell Working For my first story at the Vladivostok News, I walked out across the frozen harbor and interviewed ice fishermen. [Back to the top]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us] Update 177 Oct. 12, 1998 Thousands protest downtown By Mike Eckel and Russell Working Under a motley collection of placards, banners, and hammers and sickles, an estimated 3,000 people gathered on the city's central square Oct. 7 to protest wage arrears and to demand a change in the course of reforms that have promised much and yielded little for the average Primorian. Protests hit cities throughout Far East By Russell Working and Nonna Chernyakova Vladivostok wasn't the only Far Eastern city to see large-scale protests amid the nation-wide demonstrations Wednesday. Duma offers support for food producers By Anatoly Medetsky Yevgenia Ivanova, 63, wanders around a Vladivostok grocery where the shelves are filled with imported foods: tea, vegetable oil, cookies, meat, and other products. Update 181 Dec. 11, 1998 Vladivostok torn by dueling mayors By Nonna Chernyakova At City Hall, the headquarters of ousted Mayor Viktor Cherepkov, the front entrance was barricaded Tuesday by furniture and Cossacks, while the back door was guarded by Cherepkov's employees. About 500 loyal employees announced they were staying in the building to prevent its seizure by the new administration. Deputy denies he bashed cop with bottle By Anatoly Medetsky State Duma Deputy Vladimir Shakhov said his arrest in a bar on a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a police officer Dec. 6 was a political provocation before the upcoming mayoral elections in Vladivostok. Forestry officials to cut the spruce quota By Nonna Chernyakova Forestry officials are limiting the Christmas tree harvest because hard times have reduced the market for them in the Primorye region. [Back to the top]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us] © copyright 1998 the Vladivostok News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any form.