The Russian Elite in Transition

Abstract

When Putin came to power he and his associates agreed to follow an ‘Andropov’ strategy, seeking to restore the firm central direction that had been characteristic of the late Soviet period. Over the course of his presidency they gradually eliminated the opposition they confronted among governors, the oligarchs and the media, and increasingly entrusted leading positions to representatives of the armed forces and security. Despite the differences among these siloviki, they shared an authoritarian approach to government and a common wish to take advantage of the economic opportunities that had formerly been closed to them. They did so particularly through the control they came to exercise over the major state companies, on whose boards they became an increasingly substantial presence. Putin avoided the discredit he would have otherwise incurred at home and abroad by standing down as president in 2008, but his intention appears to be to return not later than the end of President Medvedev's term of office and after the presidential term has itself been extended.