When Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, the outside world viewed “Russian oligarchs” as men who whose vast wealth, ruthlessly amassed, made them almost shadow rulers
When Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, the outside world viewed those Russians known as “oligarchs” as men who whose vast wealth, ruthlessly amassed, made them almost shadow rulers. A “government of the few,” in the word’s etymology.
The term has persisted well into Putin’s rule, broadening in popular usage to refer to almost any Russian with a substantial fortune.
How much political power any of Russia’s uber-rich now wield, however, is doubtful.
A few hours after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, a televised meeting he held in the Kremlin with top industrialists and entrepreneurs showed how the dynamics had changed: Putin simply told them he had no choice but to invade.
Despite the harsh consequences to their wealth that the tycoons could expect from the war, they had to accept it; the power was his, not theirs.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, astute businessmen who had already begun building operations as government controls loosened under Mikhail Gorbachev’s “perestroika” reform policies took advantage of the privatizing of state industries to quickly establish vast holdings.
Fast-talking mathematician Boris Berezovsky epitomized the breed, becoming the largest dealer for Russia’s largest automaker and managing to buy the vehicles at a loss to the manufacturer. He took over the management of the Sibneft oil company, the national airline Aeroflot and gained control of Russia’s biggest TV channel, then known as ORT.
Somewhat less-colorful than Berezovsky but still prominent figures from the era included media mogul Vladimir Gusinsky, whose NTV channel made him highly influential, and oil tycoons Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Roman Abramovich.
