ABSTRACT
Over the last decade, increasingly, the acronym of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China), later BRICS (with South Africa), has been used to describe a group of dynamically growing emerging economies that sharply contrast with the stagnating developed market economies. Among other things, the increasing economic power of the group is reflected in a growing share of BRICS in world trade. Russia is in BRICS. On the other hand, there has been a lot of publicity around obstacles for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Russia, especially under the reign of Vladimir Putin. Russia under Putin is associated with state capitalism and re-nationalization. In this chapter the modalities of the opening up of independent Russia since 1991 are analysed, focusing especially on the period since Putin came to power. How and to what extent has Russia become integrated in the capitalist world economy? How does Russia, in this respect, compare with other so-called “emerging economies”?
