It has been 17 years since the Soviet Union broke up and its constituent countries gained their independence. In the beginning years the sovereignty was considered an indisputable priority, resulting in economic matters being put off. However, in the light of slow economic development in the area, it seemed to be imperative for these countries to pursue economic integration. Backed up by political will, several attempts had been made to establish various integration groupings, one of them being the Commonwealth of Independent States. The established organisation’s main aim was to assist countries in preserving the connecting links inherited from the former Soviet Union. Some of the countries in the region managed to achieve relatively high growth rates mainly due to their individual efforts. Unfortunately, so far, none out of a number of proposed integration projects has proven to be an effective and binding tool in the political and economic development of the region. This thesis aims to identify problems standing in the way of economic integration of the Commonwealth of Independent States. As of now, a free trade area – the initial form of economic integration – has not been established. Although trade ties between the member states function, the main export destination of these states is outside the Commonwealth. It is recommended that the initial steps in setting up a free trade area in this territory should begin with developing integration within regional associations, due to smaller numbers of participants and their common interests.

The aim of the diploma is to introduce provide information about financial system of Russia. It includes a description and classification of Russian financial markets, development of the whole system and describe a current financial position during the crisis. Diploma also includes Regulation and Supervision part, which is relatively important due to a present situation in the financial world. In terms of practical part basing on technical and fundamental analyses the author tends to forecast the probable future trend of development of the Russian Trade System RTS. The diploma is made for a wide range of prospective readers, who even might not be interested in Finance.