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This chapter presents the results of interviews conducted with accounting educators in Ukraine.

This chapter examines factors that affect the accounting system in Russia as it moves toward the adoption and implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Current rules are examined and selected Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) are compared to IFRS, followed by a discussion of how closely Russian accountants actually follow the rules and the factors that affect accounting practice. The reliability of Russian financial statements is also discussed, followed by a discussion of Russia’s options for the future, which groups support the various options, and the likely outcomes. Conclusions are presented in the final section.

This chapter summarizes the results of interviews conducted at accounting firms and educational institutions in Kiev and Odessa during the summer of 2004, supplemented by later correspondence via the internet. Topics discussed include the adoption and implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), education for accounting practitioners, recent changes in accounting education in Ukrainian universities, accounting certification and taxation.

This chapter describes and summarizes the USAID Accounting Reform Project in Armenia. After a brief introduction that discusses the history and culture of Armenia, the chapter goes into a discussion of the major aspects of accounting reform, which included assisting the Finance Ministry adopt and implement International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Standards on Auditing (ISA), translating accounting materials into Armenian and Russian, upgrading the accounting curriculum at all the major universities and institutes, facilitating the growth of a private sector accounting association, assisting in the development of continuing professional education programs (CPE) for practitioners and helping to establish an accounting certification program. One of the authors was employed by a private consulting firm that had the USAID accounting reform contract for Armenia.

The Russian Finance Ministry has declared that all banks and large Russian enterprises must prepare their financial statements based on international financial reporting standards (IFRS) as of January 1, 2004, a full year ahead of the European Union deadline for EU member countries. The problem is that the majority of Russian accountants know little or nothing about IFRS and there are few educational resources they can utilize to get up to speed on the subject. Russian universities cannot provide much assistance because many of their professors are not trained in IFRS either. The private sector has risen to the challenge and is providing some of the much needed training but the quantity of educational resources the private sector is able to provide is insufficient to fully educate the Russian accounting profession in time for the deadline, and the quality of some of the education providers leaves much to be desired. This chapter reports on the private sector’s initiative to provide quality accounting education. Some of the information in this chapter was gathered from interviews conducted in Moscow, St. Petersburg and a few other Russian cities during the summer and fall of 2003.

This chapter presents the results of interviews conducted with accounting educators in Ukraine.

This chapter reports on the education segment of the USAID Accounting Reform Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The USAID program trained both professors and practitioners. One of the authors was a consultant for the private consulting firm that won the USAID contract for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Although most countries have their own national accounting and auditing certifications, there are a number of internationally recognized accounting certifications. These certifications are especially valuable in transition and developing economies, where the quality of the national certification is low. The most popular international certification is offered by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Until a few years ago, this certification was the only truly international certification. However, in recent years a few other certifications have started to become internationally recognized. This chapter discusses the reasons for the popularity of international certifications, the reasons why resistance to them has been encountered, and reports on the status of the various internationally recognized accounting certifications in the former Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia.

Corporate governance issues are especially important in transition economies, since these countries do not have the long-established financial institution infrastructure to deal with corporate governance issues. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was no need to discuss corporate governance issues because all enterprises were owned by the state and there were no shareholders. All that has changed since 1989. This paper discusses how transition economies are dealing with corporate governance issues and the extra obstacles they have to overcome due to a lack of established financial institution infrastructure. Several case studies from Eastern Europe are examined.

This chapter discusses the current state of taxation and public finance in the Russian Federation and compares some aspects of Russian public finance to other CIS and Eastern European countries and to selected OECD countries. The chapter begins with a discussion of the present tax system and structure in Russia, then places the Russian system in perspective by comparing certain aspects of the Russian system to those of other countries. Comparisons of tax burden as a percentage of GDP are made with other former Soviet republics as well as selected OECD countries. A ranking is done to determine where Russia fits on a relative scale. Percentage breakdowns are also given by major tax category. Several comparisons are also made using the Tax Misery Index statistics. Interestingly, Russia does not fare too badly compared to some other countries in terms of tax burden and tax misery, although there is room for improvement.