[monday]

"Since we don't hear much about that issue, I suspect he works with them, but I would very much like to hear otherwise."

He works with the more successful mafia. They are called oligarchs. (semi respectable mafia) Putin shut down Yeltsins Oligarchs' when he took over and his supporters moved into their places. Now they control most of the Russian economy.

[DBtoo]

Oh no! I was sort of referring to those Oligarchs as I knew they had lots of power during Yeltin's period; however, I figured that was because Yeltin was such a drunk and in poor health that he didn't really care what was going on anyway. I do remember when Putin came out, there was a falling-out with Berezovsky (sp?). But now some new ones have come along to take the places of the old ones? Great.

I guess Russia will continue to deteriorate. I wondered if the Russian mob had anything to do with the death of Lebed, because if I remember correctly, Lebed hated them.

[SauronOfMordor]

He works with the more successful mafia. They are called oligarchs.

When the USSR "privatized", the people who bought up the state-owned factories dirt-cheap were the inner-circle of the Communist Party (the nomenklatura). They were the only ones with cash to buy up factories. They stayed in control, only now as "capitalists" rather than as "the Party".

In the Communist days, the Party had the KGB to keep people in line, and terminate threats to Party power. In the post-Communist days, the "oligarchs" have the "Russian Mafia" to keep people in line, and terminate threats to the oligarchs position in the "new economy"