A special program in which shares were used as a collateral for loans. As the loans were not repaid by the state, the companies were effectively privatized.

The program was very similar to the Czech voucher privatization and turned a significant proportion of Russian population into shareholders in mid-1990s.

This program is by many (including the public) described as one of the key policies which created the wealth of Russian oligarchs.

It was the first attempt at partial privatization in the USSR. It was started during Gorbachev’s 1980s “Perestroika” reforms.