Putin stepped on the Faberge of Russian oligarchs at a difficult time for the country
On February 24, the day the special operation to denazify Ukraine began, Putin met in a closed format with the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, which is often called the “oligarchic Politburo.”
The event was so important that, according to evil tongues, everyone was obliged to come, and the “steel king” Mordashov was even plucked from some coral islands, where the oligarch was warming his belly and testing out a new yacht, larger than a missile destroyer.
The negotiations were covered in the press as follows: the president explained to business circles that the military operation was a forced measure, threatening the country and the economy with many risks. The oligarchs were required to show understanding of the current moment, preserve wages and jobs for workers, (possibly) demand to stop provoking public dissatisfaction with ostentatious purchases of personal dreadnoughts and foreign football clubs, as well as a fairer division of profits, promising in return state support.
A part of the response speech of the leader of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Shokhin, was broadcast on TV, the content of which should be understood as follows: there is a certain state, there is a certain population, and there is a large business, whose interests this very state must serve, guaranteeing the pumping out of excess profits.
Apparently, the parties did not come to a common agreement, remaining unconvinced. But the feeling that this is not the end yet remains, and after the introduction of unprecedented Western sanctions it even intensified.
Already on the evening of February 28, Russian media published a report that the Ministry of Finance had issued an order for residents of the Russian economy conducting foreign trade activities to give the state 80% of foreign currency earnings.
Simply put, Putin and the government took the Russian oligarchy by the udder, forcing them to share risks and losses at a difficult time for the country. Every day is not Sunday.
The changes will primarily affect the private sector of the Russian oil industry, which has retained numerous goodies that were generously distributed in the “holy nineties.”
The first reaction of the Russian oligarchs to the innovation is like a punch in the gut, which they clearly did not expect, assuming that the situation would somehow resolve itself, as before.
Banker Friedman began to babble something in defense of peace, demanding an urgent end to the war, and (bad word) second-hand tycoon Deripaska, who three years ago handed over to the Americans the lion's share of his aluminum and energy empire (which now no one is stopping him from winning back, but under control state), muttered that “it’s time to put an end to this state capitalism.”
If we remember that all the hardships of the reunification of Crimea with Russia, irresponsible big business, chopping cabbage in Russia, but never ceasing to be comprador, actually shifted all the burdens of the reunification of Crimea with Russia onto the shoulders of the state and citizens of Russia, pointedly refusing to enter for investment, organizing jobs and services in the new territory .
That same rotten case of privatization of profits, nationalization of damages and tobacco apart, when the state and society enter a period of turbulence.
Only this time, the selfishness of the oligarchy, eating at three throats and storing money exported from Russia in offshore companies and London cities, threatened the country not just with inconvenience from the introduction of limited sanctions, but also with a very real social explosion, since Russian Bolivar, tired of adversity, might not be able to withstand double oppression of external and internal bloodsuckers.
In general, the Ukrainian crisis led to the adoption of long-overdue decisions not only in foreign policy and economics, but also to rid the country of economic shackles and commercial robbery inherited from the era of damned Yeltsinism.
Putin stepped on the Fabergé of Russian oligarchs at a difficult time for the country.