The Soviet economy had achieved unprecedented rates of growth, but performance steadily deteriorated, and by the Gorbachev years it was in what the leader himself described as a ‘crisis situation’. Under his leadership, tentative steps were taken towards private ownership and the market; much more decisive steps were taken by Boris Yeltsin after 1991, especially through a far-reaching privatisation of state property. The economy, however, continued to contract, and the currency itself collapsed in a ‘default’ in 1998 that, for many Russians, discredited the strategy he had been pursuing. Putin placed a much greater emphasis on state ownership and management, and higher oil prices allowed the economy to grow rapidly throughout the years of his presidency; output fell again during the international financial crisis that began in late 2008, but soon recovered. It remained unclear how long a strategy could be sustained that depended so heavily on the export of raw materials, and there were deepening problems of corruption and the rule of law that prejudiced the strategy of ‘modernisation’ to which the Medvedev leadership was publicly committed.