Russia’s Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy

This insightful study explores how the economic system Vladimir Putin has developed in Russia works chiefly to consolidate his control over the country. Installing close associates at the head of state enterprises, giving control of the FSB and judiciary to his friends from the KGB and enriching businessmen from Saint Petersburg with preferential government deals, are all components in Putin’s creation of a super wealthy and loyal plutocracy that owes its existence to authoritarianism.

Most alarming of all, however, is the fact that much of this wealth has been hidden in Western offshore havens in the United States and the United Kingdom where companies with anonymous owners are allowed to thrive. Though beneficial to a select few, this system has left Russia’s economy in a position of untenable stagnation, which Putin has tried to hide through emphasising the country’s military might.