from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Russian Transition Oligarchs: Go Play with Your Money The past is forgiven. Now get lost, billionaires. PRESIDENT PUTIN met 21 of Russia's oligarchs yesterday to tell them that their political power was at an end. He said the businessmen, many of them billionaires, would not be allowed to wield influence in the Kremlin, but offered them the olive branch of keeping the companies they won during Russia's privatisations. Boris Nemtsov, leader of the Union of Right Forces party and a reformer who helped to organise the meeting, said: "This is the end of the oligarchs in Russia. All the businessmen present agreed to live under equal conditions and that there would be no more special conditions for anyone." The meeting came at the end of two months that have seen several leading businessmen come under attack, causing rising tension among Russia's rich and powerful. Mr Putin told the heads of industry that he was calling a ceasefire, but would give no guarantees that legal actions against them would not be resumed. Mr Nemtsov said: "The revolutionary period of the redistribution of property has come to an end. The oligarchs are tired of being oligarchs and want to be loyal citizens instead." Vladimir Potanin, a leading oligarch, said: "Mr Putin confirmed that he will meet the businessmen on a regular basis. I think he perceives the businessmen more as partners than as enemies." Mr Potanin, a former first deputy prime minister, is credited with initiating the loans-for-shares privatisation scheme, from which he was the biggest beneficiary. His Interros company controls some of Russia's largest oil and metal producers. The small band of top businessmen have amassed vast fortunes over the past 10 years through their close connection with the Kremlin and former president Yeltsin. Mr Putin had pledged to end the cosy relations between business and the Kremlin after he was elected in March, saying he would "rid Russia of the oligarchs as a class". His opening volley came in June when the media mogul, Vladimir Gusinsky, was thrown in jail for three days on graft charges, later dropped. After Mr Gusinsky's arrest several other businessmen found themselves and their companies under investigation. But the campaign against the oligarchs has largely settled old scores against the Kremlin's political opponents, leaving those oligarchs thought to be closest to the Kremlin untouched. The notable absentees from yesterday's meeting and the attacks of the last two months were Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich. Both are thought to have been in Mr Yeltsin's innermost circle, and Mr Berezovsky is credited with masterminding Mr Putin's election campaign. The pair's apparent exemption raises questions as to how independent Mr Putin really is. Mr Gusinsky also did not attend the meeting. Prosecutors dropped proceedings against him on Wednesday and he immediately left for Spain to join his family. What is clear is that Mr Putin has been pulling back from the oligarchs. Sergei Karaganov, the deputy director of the Council on Foreign and Defence Po licy, said: "By withdrawing his support from the oligarchs, Mr Putin is giving a signal to various interested groups that they can take actions against these businessmen with impunity." There is little love lost between the largest oligarch groups. Under Mr Yeltsin the most powerful was "the Family", led by Mr Berezovsky and Mr Abramovich. Although this group has lost its prime position, it remains influential and has many allies in the Kremlin. Mr Putin, already doing battle against regional governors, may have decided the fighting was getting out of hand and called yesterday's meeting to declare victory and a ceasefire. The London Telegraph, July 29, 2000 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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