lost an election that was fully backed by Oligarchs, such as television magnate Vladimir Gusinsky. Only months later, in July, the Yeltsin family picked Vladimir Putin to become the president (Khrushchev, 9-12) The August 1998 financial collapse, Yeltsin’s last couple years spent physically incapacitated, and the upcoming new appointment of Yeltsin’s successor caste shadows on the future of the infant democratic market-economy of Russia. Would the Oligarchies continue to reign? Would Putin come down with new economic reforms? Soon after Putin’s appointment, it was clear that changes were about to occur. Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Khodorkovsky Under control of President Vladimir Putin, there were some key turning points in reasserting control of Russian industry. On October 2003, the richest man in Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, head of the Russia’s largest oil company, Yukos, was arrested and subsequently sentenced to eight years in jail for tax evasion (Wegren and Herspring, 161). Khodorkovsky was one of the leading figures from the very beginning but now, Putin saw Khodorkovsky as a political threat. Khodorkovsky’s and verdict verified Putin’s power and raised new questions about the relationship between the Russian state and the Oligarchs and the fate of democracy and capitalism in Russia. On the night of December 31st, when Putin was appointed Prime Minister, he left a hopeful impression on the people of Russia. He gave an address that focused on a new type of society that would address Russia’s social and economic problems such as ending corruption and creating a stronger state. He discussed the lack of capital investments and the fact that at Russia was very far behind world production and innovation of goods, Russia accounted for less than 1% of world’s commodities at that time. In Putin’s address, he urged the need for market reform
lost an election that was fully backed by Oligarchs, such as television magnate Vladimir Gusinsky. Only months later, in July, the Yeltsin family picked Vladimir Putin to become the president (Khrushchev, 9-12) The August 1998 financial collapse, Yeltsin’s last couple years spent physically incapacitated, and the upcoming new appointment of Yeltsin’s successor caste shadows on the future of the infant democratic market-economy of Russia. Would the Oligarchies continue to reign? Would Putin come down with new economic reforms? Soon after Putin’s appointment, it was clear that changes were about to occur. Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Khodorkovsky Under control of President Vladimir Putin, there were some key turning points in reasserting control of Russian industry. On October 2003, the richest man in Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, head of the Russia’s largest oil company, Yukos, was arrested and subsequently sentenced to eight years in jail for tax evasion (Wegren and Herspring, 161). Khodorkovsky was one of the leading figures from the very beginning but now, Putin saw Khodorkovsky as a political threat. Khodorkovsky’s and verdict verified Putin’s power and raised new questions about the relationship between the Russian state and the Oligarchs and the fate of democracy and capitalism in Russia. On the night of December 31st, when Putin was appointed Prime Minister, he left a hopeful impression on the people of Russia. He gave an address that focused on a new type of society that would address Russia’s social and economic problems such as ending corruption and creating a stronger state. He discussed the lack of capital investments and the fact that at Russia was very far behind world production and innovation of goods, Russia accounted for less than 1% of world’s commodities at that time. In Putin’s address, he urged the need for market reform
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