Wednesday 8 May 2013

A Bloomberg editorial on corruption in Putin's Russia

"The editors" of Bloomberg have written an editorial about corruption in Putin's Russia:

Unfortunately, corruption is an integral part of the state- based economic system Putin has built since he took power in 2000. In the oil and gas sector, for example, the government controls 45 percent of production, compared with 10 percent in 1998-1999, according to research by BNP Paribas. Managers of state-owned oil and gas companies are usually former government officials, and their companies are routinely tapped to fund unrelated projects such as the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The natural- gas monopoly OAO Gazprom’s budget for such initiatives in 2011- 2014 is $14.3 billion, according to BNP.

Still, the "editors" appear to believe that the same Putin, who created the corrupt economic system, somehow would be willing and capable to reform it:

President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on corruption is vital to Russia’s future. It’s also certain to fail unless he recognizes the shortcomings of his methods.

How naive can you be? 

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