While Silaev advocated a cautious approach to reform and its coordination with the other republics, Burbulis argued for what became known as “shock therapy,” an aggressive reform effort associated with rapid liberalization of prices and an initial sharp decline in living standards, which had been tried successfully in Poland.6 Burbulis and his supporters—who included the Russian foreign minister, Andrei Kozyrev, and the information minister, Mikhail Poltoranin—put Russia’s interests first, seeking to grab as much power as possible from the center and to do so as quickly as they could.
