The Benefits of Bartering

MOSCOW - German Sterligov is well known here, but unlike Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska, and other publicly flamboyant Russian billionaires, he is little known abroad. Sterligov neither sails the Caribbean nor drinks in London's Mayfair district; most of the time he lives a traditional peasant lifestyle deep in the Russian countryside with his wife and five children. In winter, their farm is accessible only by horse-drawn cart, and the nearest house is seven miles away. Sterligov's way of life makes a strong Russian Orthodox statement and amuses Moscow's public.

Fast Track out of crisis:
From paper money to Gold standard

Bretton Woods Agreements of 1944 actually turned gold from major currency into reserve currency. In 1971 the USA temporarily refused gold backing of the dollar. Implementation of the Jamaican currency system in 1976 (acting up to date), finally abolished the 'dollar - gold' linkage and allowed the United States Federal Reserve System to work non-stop. Extensive amounts of printed money made a great illusion of global well-being in many countries. Each year the illusion grew bigger.

"Oligarch's barter plan to beat the credit crunch"

RUSSIAN oligarch German Sterligov has set up a global commodities, goods and services trading platform that he claims can help cash-strapped companies beat the credit crunch.

"Bartering will save us: Russian Oligarch"

Russia's economy has been hit hard during the slowdown. One of the country's original millionaires German Sterligov is proposing that bartering will save Russia and the rest of the world from economic ruin. Sterligov, general director of Anticrisis Settlement and Commodity Centre, spoke to CNBC about the proposal.

"Trading places in Russia"

German Sterligov was Russia's second official millionaire following the collapse of communism - but then abandoned his wealth to live as a peasant.

Now, with the country in deep recession, the man once dubbed the "father of Russia's Wall Street" has resurfaced - and wants to change the way the world does business.