Accounting in Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Accounting in Russia - Essay Example sitated a movement away from the earlier era of accounting standards that were in tune with the centrally planned economy of the USSR but were outdated with the introduction of capitalism. This paper discusses the history of accounting in Russia and the recent developments in formulating accounting standards and governance. Due to the large number of corporate scandals that rocked Russia in the first few years of the 21st century, the Russian government has hastened the move to accounting regulation and corporate governance. Russia matters to the global economy. As a country with significant proven and unproven natural resources, mainly oil among them, it is one of the world’s leading suppliers of oil and commodities. With the spike in Oil prices in the latter parts of 2007 and continuing into 2008, the geo-strategic importance of Russia increased dramatically with the result that the world was dependant on the supply of Russian oil and gas. With regards to the supply of gas to Western Europe, Russia flexed its muscles and ensured that the terms set by it were followed at all times. In some instances, it even threatened to cut off the supply of gas to Europe as a retaliatory measure. Thus, Russia is in a position to dictate terms to the West. It has to be qualified that this is a recent development given the state of affairs in the 1990’s and the first few years of this decade as the West had the upper hand in its dealings with Russia. Further, Russia is an attractive destination for foreign capital and as a captive market among the emerging economies that go by the acronym BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China). It is in the interest of the western multinational corporations to have Russia adopt an integrated accounting system in line with their expectations. And the sense of nationalism that characterizes the Russian attitude towards the west has resulted in its own set of priorities for both sides. It is in this context that the move towards