Also, while some of the nomenklatura did benefit, note that almost none of the oligarchs were former nomenklatura. Berezovsky was a mathematician. Gusinsky was a theater director. I don't recollect what Abramovich was, but he grew up in a state orphanage and did not come from a nomenklatura background. The only two people I can think of offhand who actually were from the nomenklatura were Khodorkovsky (former Komsomol leader) and that guy who runs Lukoil.
----- Original Message ---- From: Marv Gandall <marvgandall at videotron.ca> Last gasp of the old order, no? By that time, it was pretty clear that the reintroduction of private property relations was irreversible. Yeltsin and Putin were more typical of the evolution of the CPSU nomenklutura, much of which benefited directly from the privatization of the energy and other major industries. The aging party ranks were a spent force who could do little other than peacefully protest the assault on their living standards which accompanied the destruction of the social safety net. ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk