Russian oligarchs
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"Then, the privatization plan kicked in. Every Russian was given vouchers to buy shares in the privatized companies, but desperate for cash, they simply sold their vouchers to ruthless businessmen for a fraction of their worth. And a new elite began to emerge who snapped off vast sections of Russian industry. They became known as the 'oligarchs'. --The Trap, Part 3. 'We Will Force You To Be Free' (2007) by Adam Curtis |
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Russian oligarchs (see the related term "New Russians") are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth during the era of Russian privatization in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. The failing Soviet state left the ownership of state assets contested, which allowed for informal deals with former USSR officials (mostly in Russia and Ukraine) as a means to acquire state property. Historian Edward L. Keenan has drawn a comparison between the current Russian phenomenon of oligarchs and the system of powerful boyars which emerged in late-Medieval Muscovy.
See also
- Oligarchy
- Tycoon
- Privatization in Russia
- Semibankirschina
- Ukrainian oligarchs
- Robber baron (industrialist)
- Russian mafia
- Political groups under Vladimir Putin's presidency
- Media mogul