Over a quarter of a century after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia is again increasingly looking as an authoritarian state with a stagnating economy and an unfriendly political stance towards the West.

Several theories have been put forward to explain this trajectory, from its culture to geography, to the talents of individual politicians, to the mistakes made by the West, none of them seems entirely satisfactory.

Pavel Malyi (LL.M, 1995) will explore various hypotheses to get to the roots of Russia’s state of affairs. He will focus specifically on the institutional choices made in the early years of the post-Soviet reform - from private property to judiciary, from free press to anti-trust enforcement - and analyze their relevance to Russia’s development path.

He will also draw comparisons between Russia and other post-Socialist transitional countries to highlight the policy and institutional choices available to them and the different outcomes achieved.

Pavel Malyi is an accomplished corporate finance executive and corporate lawyer with extensive experiences in Russia and other Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries.  He has first-hand knowledge of banking, sovereign finance, debt capital markets, energy, petrochemicals and asset management.

Mr. Malyi is currently a principal at Matrix Capital, a Moscow-based financial boutique.  Previously, he served as Chief Financial Officer of SIBUR, Russia’s largest petrochemical company. He also led the UBS investment banking practice for Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.

Pavel Malyi is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) with a degree in jurisprudence. He also holds an LL.M degree from University of Chicago Law School and an MPA from Columbia School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA).

Lunch will be provided