[xom]

I don't know what it was like then, but perhaps the idea is that if the Ruble were to recover, then the Russian hosts would lose out?

[listic]

Yes, that's the idea as far as I understand it, too: Rouble just dropped 4x, so it made sense that it might recover somewhat. That must have been in 1998 (I am Russian)

[bane]

Close, but it was before the 98 crash and reform. I was there in 1995.

Here's some information I found on the time period http://www.photius.com/countries/russia/economy/russia_econo...

[Steko]

I remember accounts of Westerners in Russia at the time. Supposdly the official exchange rates were rubbish and you could get 10 times as many rubles for your $ from most taxis.