#13 - JRL 7167
Smysl
May 1-15, 2003
OLIGARCHS OF THE PUTIN ERA
A brief guide to the Russian oligarchic system
Author: Vladimir Pribylovsky
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
THE CURRENT POLITICAL SYSTEM OF RUSSIA MAY WELL BE CALLED AN OLIGARCHIC SYSTEM BECAUSE OF CLOSE LINKS BETWEEN ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL-INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURES. THE ENTIRE SYSTEM MAY BE DIVIDED INTO FOUR MAJOR GROUPS, OR "CLANS". EACH OF THEM INCLUDES PROMINENT POLITICIANS, STATE OFFICIALS, AND BUSINESS LEADERS.
In the slang used by Russian journalists, the word "oligarchs" (or "tycoons") means "business leaders who dictate their will to ministers and presidents behind the scenes". This interpretation of the phenomenon of oligarchy was proposed by Boris Nemtsov in 1997.
Usually when we say "tycoons" we mean such people as Berezovsky, Gusinsky, Abramovich, Potanin, Mamut, Khodorkovsky, Khloponin, Fridman, and so on. However, it is members of the state administration elite who are the obvious oligarchs: these are such people as Putin, Voloshin, Kasianov, Chubais, Miller, Luzhkov, Seleznev, Mironov, and about a thousand diverse ministers, members of their retinue, presidential envoys in federal districts, and so on.
Abramovich and Khloponin are obviously oligarchs as well, because they are regional leaders who were elected to their present office only because of their wealth and connections.
As for Gusinsky, Deripaska, Khodorkovsky, and Fridman... Lenin used to describe such people as "only financial" oligarchs.
Potanin and Berezovsky are former oligarchs, because Potanin used to be a deputy prime minister and Berezovsky used to be the deputy secretary of the Security Council.
The administrative oligarchy of the Putin era may be divided into four basic administrative-economic clans:
1) the "old Kremlin group" or "the Family" - inherited from Boris Yeltsin and his "Family";
2) the "old St. Petersburg group", or "the Chubais clan";
3) "special agents", or the "new St. Petersburg group";
4) Yuri Luzhkov's Moscow clan.
The "old Kremlin group" includes head of the Presidential Administration Alexander Voloshin, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov, deputy head of the Presidential Administration Vladislav Surkov, Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo, Media Minister Mikhail Lesin, and more. This clan is linked with business magnates of the Yeltsin era: Deripaska (Russian Aluminum), Abramovich (Sibneft), Melnichenko (MDM), Fridman (Alfa Group), and Potanin (Interros). It is worth noting in this connection that members of this clan manipulate other business magnates.
This clan controls the Duma Unity faction led by Vladimir Pekhtin, and part of the Russian Regions deputy group led by Oleg Morozov. Actually, Surkov controls the votes of all four centrist factions on behalf of the president. Essentially, part of the Union of Right Forces (URF) is influenced by this group as well.
The "old St. Petersburg clan" is represented by head of Russian Joint Energy Systems Anatoly Chubais, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin, Central Bank chief Sergei Ignatyev, Economic Development Minister Herman Gref, Labor and Social Development Minister Alexander Pochinok, and Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Ulyukaev. Some of Putin's proteges are also influenced by this clan; among them are deputy heads of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak and Dmitry Medvedev. Vladimir Kogan from the St. Petersburg Banking House is the financial oligarch influenced by this group. Russian Joint Energy Systems is naturally controlled by this clan as well. The political party influenced by this clan is the URF.
The "special agents", or the "new St. Petersburg group", includes Putin's former colleagues from the Leningrad KGB department: Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, Presidential Administration personnel manager Viktor Ivanov, FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev, his deputy Yury Zaostrovtsev, and Foreign Intelligence Service chief Sergei Lebedev. It also includes Putin's former colleagues from the Sobchak administration: Presidential Affairs Director Vladimir Kozhin, deputy head of the Presidential Administration Igor Sechin, and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller. Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, initially a protege of "the Family", has also joined this clan. The business leaders linked with this clan are Sergei Pugachev (Mezhprombank), Alexei Miller (Gazprom), and Vagit Alekperov (LUKoil). The Duma group People's Deputy, led by Gennady Raikov, is also close to this clan. The "special agents" also control the People's Party of the Russian Federation and the Party of Life.
Surkov and Viktor Ivanov are currently fighting for the right to compile the electoral lists which United Russia and Raikov's party will use in the upcoming parliamentary election. The elimination of Bespalov from United Russia was a victory for the "old Kremlin clan" over the "special agents". However, Raikov has taken his revenge: both posts vacated by Bespalov have been taken by people from the KGB: Valery Bogomolov and Yury Volkov. Surkov, in turn, has surrounded United Russia executive committee chairman Yury Volkov by Duma members who are Surkov's own proteges.
The group led by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov includes, along with Luzhkov himself, his deputies and members of the Moscow administration: Vladimir Resin, Valery Shantsev, Iosif Ordjonikidze, Oleg Tolkachev, et al. The economic entity influenced by this group is AFK Sistema, headed by Vladimir Yevtushenko. The Moscow clan controls the Fatherland-All Russia Duma faction led by Vyacheslav Volodin and Georgy Boos and part of the Russian Regions group.
Along with federal oligarchic clans, there are also regional clans, like those of Mintimer Shaimiev in Tatarstan, Murtaza Rakhimov in Bashkortostan, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in Kalmykia, Vladimri Yakovlev in St. Petersburg, and Eduard Rossel in the Urals. These clans influence the Duma faction Russian Regions and a number of large companies such as Tatneft, Bashneft, and more.
(Translated by Kirill Frolov)
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