ABSTRACT
A dichotomy has emerged between the executive measures designed to improve the function of Russia’s politico-economic institutions and the enforcement procedures of the laws and regulation of the state by certain government agencies. During interviews which the author had with members of the Duma and Russian economists in the summer of 1999 and in the fall of 2003 and 2005, the view that this dichotomy has been intensified by an alarming increase in financial lobbying and bribery by business oligarchs of parliamentary members, political parties, customs officials and the courts was frequently expressed.
