#15 - JRL 8005
RFE/RL Business Watch
Vol. 4, No. 1, 7 January 2004
"RFE/RL Business Watch" is edited by Daniel Kimmage (DK).
A FEW BAD MEN
Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

Since police seized Russia's richest man on 25 October, the question that has kept the country's business elite awake at night is less "Why?" than "Who's next?" Will the charges of fraud and tax evasion against oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovskii mushroom into a concerted campaign to topple other heavyweights and reapportion the spoils of the 1990s? In remarks to the board of Russia's Chamber of Commerce on 23 December, President Vladimir Putin hinted at an answer.

The current catchphrase for Russia's increasingly wary business community is "social responsibility." President Putin and Chamber of Commerce President Yevgenii Primakov duly stressed the theme in their official addresses, RBK reported on 23 December. In keeping with the rising tide of anti-oligarchic sentiment, Primakov went out of his way to explain that entrepreneurs should not be confused with oligarchs. As defined by Primakov, an oligarch is a "major capitalist who is profoundly indifferent to the real needs of the country and the people, someone who long ago forgot about his patriotic duty," "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 24 December.

Primakov noted, however, that the business elite remains concerned about the possibility that the results of 1990s privatizations could be subject to review, and perhaps even revocation. Putin was quick to respond. "Rossiiskaya gazeta" quoted the president as saying, "I hear all the time that the laws were complicated and that it was impossible to obey them. Yes, the laws were confused, but it was entirely possible to obey them." Putin even went so far as to estimate that "five or seven" people played fast and loose with the law. "The rest," he continued, "may not have made as much money, but today they sleep soundly."

Having clarified the number of lawbreakers, the president was silent on their identities. Observers tried to fill in the gaps. Arkadii Volskii, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, told "Vedomosti" on 24 December that the "ambiguous" comment could refer to oil tycoons: "There are many more oligarchs, but there are really only five to seven oil tycoons." Meanwhile, Yevgenii Gavrilenkov of Troikia Dialog brokerage told the newspaper that the president may have had the mid-1990s "loans for shares" privatizations in mind, which would include not only such oil companies as Sibneft, Surgutneftegaz, LUKoil, and Yukos, but metals giant Norilsk Nickel as well.

Even as analysts pondered the significance of the president's comments, official mechanisms began to creak into action. Russia's Audit Chamber will take time in 2004 to review the legality of the previous decade's privatization deals, "Vedomosti" reported on 29 December. Auditor Vladislav Ignatov will supervise the review. Ignatov was unable to clarify for the newspaper which of the 5,475 federal privatization deals that took place in 1994-2002 will occupy center stage in the Audit Chamber's review, but he promised results by summer 2004. DK