Russia Lied to Get Loans, Says Aide to Yeltsin

A key architect of Russia’s economic transformation said in a published interview Tuesday that Russia “conned” the international community out of nearly $20 billion in loans by hiding the severity of the country’s fiscal problems.

Anatoly B. Chubais, who in July negotiated a $4.8-billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, said in an interview in Kommersant Daily that it was necessary and appropriate for Russia to lie to obtain infusions of cash.

If the government had told the truth, the longtime advisor to President Boris N. Yeltsin said in the interview, Russia’s economy would have collapsed last spring and global lenders “would have stopped dealing with us forever.”

Asked if the Russian government has the right to lie about the country’s fiscal instability, Chubais replied: “In such situations, the authorities have to do it. We ought to. The financial institutions understand, despite the fact that we conned them out of $20 billion, that we had no other way out.”

Chubais’ comments came as Russia is searching for a solution to the economic crisis that has paralyzed commerce, pushed banks to the verge of bankruptcy and sent the currency, the ruble, plunging in value almost daily to record lows.

Triggered by the devaluation of the ruble on Aug. 17, the economic collapse has sparked a political crisis that has left the country without a functioning government for more than two weeks. Yeltsin, twice unable to win parliamentary confirmation of his nominee for prime minister, Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, met with advisors Tuesday but did not name a candidate for the post.

Some Russian officials say that obtaining more foreign aid would be the best way to halt the economic slide. The IMF is scheduled to release an additional $4.3-billion loan next week, but the payment is in doubt because of Russia’s inability to enact austerity measures and its decision to devalue the ruble and freeze payments on short-term government debt.

Chubais’ statements to the respected business newspaper were especially startling because he has been widely viewed as one of Russia’s “young reformers,” who could be trusted by the West because he favored establishing a market economy.

He has served Yeltsin in numerous capacities, including privatization chief, chief of staff, deputy prime minister, campaign manager and, most recently, special envoy to Western lending institutions.

During the years Chubais and his fellow free-market advocates have been in power, privatization has resulted in a handful of tycoons seizing control of the country’s major industries while millions of workers and pensioners go for months at a time without being paid.

Chubais is chief executive of the state-owned electricity monopoly Unified Energy Systems.

This summer, as Russia’s economic woes mounted, Chubais played a crucial role in winning a pledge of $22.6 billion in loans from the IMF, the World Bank and Japan.

The lenders insisted that Russia make serious changes in the management of its government and economy, including improving tax collection and slashing spending.

But Russia’s desperate need for cash led the IMF in July to release the $4.8-billion loan negotiated by Chubais, although Russia had not met the loan conditions. Earlier, the IMF had lent Russia $14.3 billion.

In Washington, spokesmen for the IMF and the World Bank declined to discuss Chubais’ statements because they had not read the interview. “I haven’t seen the article, so it would be irresponsible for me to comment,” World Bank spokesman Klas Bergman said.

Andrei V. Trapeznikov, a spokesman for Chubais, tried to put the best spin on the interview but did not contest any of the quotations. In fact, he said, Chubais was given a copy of the text before it was published and did not question the way in which he was quoted.

“I think this passage should not be interpreted as malicious intent,” Trapeznikov said. “There was no ill intent on the part of Russia to cheat the IMF out of its money.”

In the interview, Chubais used the Russian slang word kinuli, which means “we conned,” “we tricked” or “we cheated.” Trapeznikov said it was a harsher word than what Chubais really meant.

“What works for a Russian audience sounds very rough in English,” he said. “I think that Anatoly Borisovich [Chubais] used a wrong word in this context and did not express himself very clearly.”

At another point in the Kommersant interview, Chubais defended Yeltsin’s statement just days before the government devalued the ruble that it would never do so.

“One can keep lashing out at the president to one’s heart’s content for having said there would be no devaluation, but this was the very thing that should have been said,” Chubais told the newspaper. “Any politician in sound mind will tell you this is the only way, unfortunately, that authorities should behave in such extreme situations.”

Times staff writer Art Pine in Washington contributed to this report.