Career notes: In charge of IMF’s programs for the CIS… Arranged $22 billion bailout in ‘98 just before the August crisis, allowing oligarchs to convert assets into hard currency and transfer them off shore… Published an article in the Wall St Journal two months after the crisis entitled “What Went Wrong with Russia”… According to Communist Sergei Glazyev, he was one of the Westerners with insider info about the date of the devaluation before it happened… Sees Putin as someone who can build opportunities for investment, liberalize financial systems, protect property rights and curb corruption… Recently claimed that there are “grounds for optimism” visible in the Russian economy…