ABSTRACT
Earlier we analysed Putin’s reform of the federal system designed to ensure the unimpeded application of constitutional norms. No less important was his struggle to modify the close and unhealthy relationship between the state and the economy that had developed under Yeltsin. The privileges of various business and commercial structures had turned into a specific type of ‘state within the state’, with their own media empires, house politicians, television channels and security services. Hellman described developments under Yeltsin as a ‘partial reform equilibrium’, with regional bosses and oligarchs taking advantage of an economy stuck midway between the plan and the market.2 This ‘equilibrium’ (although the degree to which a balance had been achieved is unclear) was now upset by the emergence of an activist presidency. We have noted that in the struggle against certain oligarchs the principle of ‘equidistance’ between business interests and the state was advanced. What was the economic legacy that Putin inherited, and how did he plan to move forwards? What was the economic model that he sought to apply? These are the questions that we shall address in this chapter.
