The Russian Oligarchs and the Economic Crisis

Author(s): Stephen Fortescue
Editor(s): Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 63
Pages: 2-5
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen
Publication Year: 2009

This article makes the seldom heard argument that Russia's oligarchs have played a positive role in the country's economic development. After the Yukos affair and before the economic crisis, the oligarchs' commercial activities and their relationship with the state presented a mixed picture. The crisis reduced the oligarchs' revenue streams and therefore exposed them to debt-repayment problems, but again the picture is mixed, with the fate of each of the companies depending on its particular situation. Ultimately, the state does not see the economic crisis as an opportunity to nationalize the oligarchs' enterprises and they are likely to weather this storm.

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