Peshkov’s Claim that Russia has No Oligarchs ‘Ridiculous,’ Parliamentarians Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 12 – Two days ago, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, dismissed remarks by Alyaksandr Lukashenka of Belarus that Russian oligarchs were interfering in the domestic affairs of his country by saying that he had “no knowledge of the existence of any Russian oligarchs” (ria.ru/20200610/1572750742.html).

            Peskov and Putin have often said that “there are no oligarchs” in Russia today, that this is “a conception from the 1990s” and that “now we have good socially responsible businessmen who are concerned about the country and earn money by engaging in responsible business” of one kind or another.

            Earlier this year, the Regions.ru portal reminds, Putin explained what he sees as “the difference between the oligarchs of the 1990s and the present day.”  Then, “the oligarchs could influence the taking of decisions by the government on domestic affairs, while the leaders of companies today do not have that privilege” (regions.ru/news/2628456/).

            But the news agency’s survey of the views of five Russian parliamentarians finds that many do not agree with that claim in some cases for terminological reasons but in many for substantive ones as well.

            Just Russia Duma deputy Oleg Shein says pointedly that “an oligarchy exists in Russia” and that “attempts to suggest that oligarchs do not influence Russia policy can be viewed as absurd.”  Russia has a large number of wealthy people who are wealthy because of the state and their ability to influence it.

            KPRF Duma deputy Nikolay Arefyev says that depending on what definition of oligarch one employs, “Peshkov in this case is both right and not right.” There is no legally established oligarchate in Russia but there is very much a system in which the wealthy have far more influence that the spokesman’s denial suggests.

            “If wealthy people force the government machine to work for them” and they do, the deputy continues, “this means that we have an oligarchic system which works in the interests of major capital. Calling them oligarchs, the wealth or something else is a matter of choice.” But denying the word doesn’t deny the existence of the phenomenon.

            LDPR Duma deputy Sergey Katasonov says that Russia has oligarchs in the conventional meaning of the world and it is silly to deny that fact even if they are not fixed in law.  The system works for them and they exert powerful influence on the state to ensure that this will continue to be the case.

            United Russia Senator Valery Semenov says one can call wealthy people whatever one likes, but he insists that there is no oligarchic system as such anymore. One did exist in the 1990s but now rich people have to work through the legal system just like anyone else “Therefore, Peskov is absolutely right that there is no oligarchic system in the country.”

            “In the majority of cases, we see today a system of interrelationships between the state and the owners of major enterprises and businessmen who have quite serious resources,” but that isn’t the same thing as oligarchy, Semenov says.

            And non-party Senator Anatoly Lyskov says that whether one thinks Russia has oligarchs or not depends on the definition one uses. But there is no question that 1.6 percent of the population controls 83 percent of the financial means of Russia and that the state works to ensure that continues to be so.

            Those in that category, call them oligarchs or not, have the power to ensure that it does even if they can’t determine all political outcomes on that or on other issues.