There have been three recent events relating to big business. First, a delegation of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) visited Russian General Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov in order to put in a word for President of the company SIBUR Yakov Goldovsky, who is in a detention cell now.
Second, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the General Prosecutor's Office have announced the start of a new wind of the case of Boris Berezovsky.
Third, the Duma approved but then revoked with a scandal the draft law on nationalization that would not have pleased Russian tycoons.
Over the past two years, relations between the government and big business have radically changed.
The first half of the 1990s has gone down in history as the era of wild privatization and emergence of oligarchs. They were fostered by the government as the "economic club" for fighting the communists.
At that time, more than half of regional leaders supported the left-wing parties. Security agencies were displeased with the government too. Thus, the president could rely only on "sharks" of business: A. Smolensky, V. Gusinsky, B. Berezovsky, P. Aven, M. Fridman, V. Potanin, M. Khodorkovsky. They had much to lose, and so they did not spare money on support of the government. And the government disregarded their sins in exchange and let them "milk" the treasury freely. According to various estimates, for the years of reforms, at least $300 billion were taken away from the country.
The country has changed since then. The mass privatization is over and criminal tiffs and assassinations are now decreasing. Tax laws have been adopted. Industry has begun reviving gradually.
But what about oligarchs?
In the late era of Yeltsin the government already began to feel ashamed of "vicious links" with oligarchs. When Vladimir Putin came to power, tycoons were made to share money with the government and were deprived of influence over the Kremlin. For instance, at one of the president's first meetings with entrepreneurs he "hammered out" 1.5 billion rubles from them on social programs for servicemen. Some of them, like V. Alekperov and V. Potanin, have been scared by the General Prosecutor's Office. Others, like R. Abramovich, M. Khodorkovsky, and O. Deripaska, have understood the situation after the first hint. And only Gusinsky and Berezovsky have not understood the new policy and have become exiles.
Sergei Yushenkov, Berezovsky's brother-in-arms from the party Liberal Russia, believes that tycoons have lost their independence completely. "Their meetings with the president and the general prosecutor are more like acts of honorable capitulation than bilateral dialogue. Oligarchs know what their riot may lead to: the government will immediately find evidence of their links with bin Laden and other compromising materials," Yushenkov has said.
By the way, a formerly influential magnate and now head of a humble northeastern region has told an "Argumenty I Fakty" journalist, "The worst thing is that tycoons attack one another to please the government." The fray between Berezovsky and Alekperov for TV-6 proves this statement.
Is it fair to state that the era of oligarchy is over? None of tycoons dare open Kremlin doors with their feet and dictate texts of decrees now. Alexander Livshits, Deputy General Director of Russkiy Aluminiy and former finance minister, is of the opinion that relations between tycoons and the government have become more civilized.
It is noteworthy that representatives of big business appeal to journalists not to call them oligarchs anymore. Times are changing, and terms are changing with them.
Entrepreneurs are getting used to lobbying their interests not "under the Kremlin carpet," but through the Duma, Federation Council, the RUIE, and the Council of Entrepreneurs under the prime minister. Even head of Mezhprombank Sergei Pugachev, who is rumored to be a friend of Vladimir Putin, has entered the senate.
It is clear that relations between the government and big business will not be calm. The conflict of interests persists. Large businesses always want to be even larger by means of concealing their incomes from the government. And the government will continue demanding that they give a share of their incomes to the state, since the government never knows how to feed doctors, teachers, and servicemen.
The main task of the sides is to find a compromise. We know results of indiscriminate distribution of the state's property and putting screws on businesses. Criminal proceedings against top managers of the largest companies and attempts to renationalize everything will hardly stimulate economic growth. But tycoons should also understand that the government's affection cannot appear out of nothing. It is necessary for them to invest their profits in the Russian economy but not in some offshore zones. They also should help the government solve social problems. (Translated by Kirill Frolov) Argumenty I Fakty February 6, 2002 TYCOONS FLATTENED Relations between the government and business have become more civilized Author: Alexander Kolesnichenko, Ludmila Pivovarova, Vitaly Tseplyaev [from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html] THE ERA OF OLIGARCHY IS APPARENTLY OVER. ENTREPRENEURS ARE GETTING USED TO LOBBYING FOR THEIR INTERESTS NOT "BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE KREMLIN," BUT THROUGH THE DUMA, FEDERATION COUNCIL, THE RUSSIAN UNION OF INDUSTRIALISTS AND ENTREPRENEURS, AND THE COUNCIL OF ENTREPRENEURS UNDER THE PRIME MINISTER.
There have been three recent events relating to big business. First, a delegation of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) visited Russian General Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov in order to put in a word for President of the company SIBUR Yakov Goldovsky, who is in a detention cell now.
Second, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the General Prosecutor's Office have announced the start of a new wind of the case of Boris Berezovsky.
Third, the Duma approved but then revoked with a scandal the draft law on nationalization that would not have pleased Russian tycoons.
Over the past two years, relations between the government and big business have radically changed.
The first half of the 1990s has gone down in history as the era of wild privatization and emergence of oligarchs. They were fostered by the government as the "economic club" for fighting the communists.
At that time, more than half of regional leaders supported the left-wing parties. Security agencies were displeased with the government too. Thus, the president could rely only on "sharks" of business: A. Smolensky, V. Gusinsky, B. Berezovsky, P. Aven, M. Fridman, V. Potanin, M. Khodorkovsky. They had much to lose, and so they did not spare money on support of the government. And the government disregarded their sins in exchange and let them "milk" the treasury freely. According to various estimates, for the years of reforms, at least $300 billion were taken away from the country.
The country has changed since then. The mass privatization is over and criminal tiffs and assassinations are now decreasing. Tax laws have been adopted. Industry has begun reviving gradually.
But what about oligarchs?
In the late era of Yeltsin the government already began to feel ashamed of "vicious links" with oligarchs. When Vladimir Putin came to power, tycoons were made to share money with the government and were deprived of influence over the Kremlin. For instance, at one of the president's first meetings with entrepreneurs he "hammered out" 1.5 billion rubles from them on social programs for servicemen. Some of them, like V. Alekperov and V. Potanin, have been scared by the General Prosecutor's Office. Others, like R. Abramovich, M. Khodorkovsky, and O. Deripaska, have understood the situation after the first hint. And only Gusinsky and Berezovsky have not understood the new policy and have become exiles.
Sergei Yushenkov, Berezovsky's brother-in-arms from the party Liberal Russia, believes that tycoons have lost their independence completely. "Their meetings with the president and the general prosecutor are more like acts of honorable capitulation than bilateral dialogue. Oligarchs know what their riot may lead to: the government will immediately find evidence of their links with bin Laden and other compromising materials," Yushenkov has said.
By the way, a formerly influential magnate and now head of a humble northeastern region has told an "Argumenty I Fakty" journalist, "The worst thing is that tycoons attack one another to please the government." The fray between Berezovsky and Alekperov for TV-6 proves this statement.
Is it fair to state that the era of oligarchy is over? None of tycoons dare open Kremlin doors with their feet and dictate texts of decrees now. Alexander Livshits, Deputy General Director of Russkiy Aluminiy and former finance minister, is of the opinion that relations between tycoons and the government have become more civilized.
It is noteworthy that representatives of big business appeal to journalists not to call them oligarchs anymore. Times are changing, and terms are changing with them.
Entrepreneurs are getting used to lobbying their interests not "under the Kremlin carpet," but through the Duma, Federation Council, the RUIE, and the Council of Entrepreneurs under the prime minister. Even head of Mezhprombank Sergei Pugachev, who is rumored to be a friend of Vladimir Putin, has entered the senate.
It is clear that relations between the government and big business will not be calm. The conflict of interests persists. Large businesses always want to be even larger by means of concealing their incomes from the government. And the government will continue demanding that they give a share of their incomes to the state, since the government never knows how to feed doctors, teachers, and servicemen.
The main task of the sides is to find a compromise. We know results of indiscriminate distribution of the state's property and putting screws on businesses. Criminal proceedings against top managers of the largest companies and attempts to renationalize everything will hardly stimulate economic growth. But tycoons should also understand that the government's affection cannot appear out of nothing. It is necessary for them to invest their profits in the Russian economy but not in some offshore zones. They also should help the government solve social problems. (Translated by Kirill Frolov)