Russia's Oil Barons and Metal Magnates: Oligarchs and the State in Transition

Russian politics has been dominated over the last decade or more by the relationship between the so-called 'oligarchs' and the state. The oligarchs are the super-wealthy business people who came to dominate the economy, and some would say the political system as well, under Yeltsin, but who have had to cope with a far more difficult head of state in the person of Vladimir Putin. Existing studies of the oligarchs and their relationship with the Russian state tend to be damning on two grounds: they obtained their wealth and power corruptly, and rapaciously stripped the assets over which they had so dubiously gained ownership.

While the author would not wish to be seen as a 'revisionist friend of the oligarchs', nevertheless this book is distinctive in that it undertakes a critical analysis of each of the claims made against them. In doing so the book presents a detailed description and analysis of the place of the oligarchs in the contemporary Russian political economy, including a study of the extraordinary Yukos affair.

About the Author:
Stephen Fortescue is Associate Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations, University of New South Wales, Australia