Flamboyant tycoon and politician Boris Berezovsky blasted the young reformers in the Cabinet on Wednesday, saying they had snubbed the business elite that helped them to power.
Berezovsky said first deputy prime ministers Anatoly Chubais and Boris Nemtsov were making "an important strategic mistake" by breaking with the financial elite that bankrolled President Boris Yeltsin's re-election last year.
"I believe that today business is the very class that is the cornerstone of government," he said at a press conference. "Businessmen should be the first people to whom the government pays heed.
"Both Nemtsov and Chubais, when they entered the government, decided that as the people in power they have complete right to ignore what small, medium and big business are thinking."
It was the latest salvo in Berezovsky's war of words with the government over last month's controversial sell-off of telecommunications giant Svyazinvest.
Nemtsov and Chubais hailed the $1.9 billion sale as an end to the sweetheart deals of the past when banking circles close to the Kremlin bought state enterprises at discount prices. But the losing consortium, in which Berezovsky is reported to have had a stake, cried foul. It alleged that Nemtsov had colluded with the winners of the bid, Uneximbank.
Nemtsov hit back this week, accusing Berezovsky of using his post as deputy secretary of the Security Council to promote his business interests, and hinting that he should quit the job. The financier has said he put aside his business interests when he joined the government. Those interests reportedly included ownership of, or stakes in LogoVAZ auto dealerships, the oil company Sibneft, and ORT television.
Berezovsky's position appeared even more precarious Wednesday after Yeltsin chided him for his role in the release of hostages kidnapped in the breakaway republic of Chechnya.
In addition, Security Council chief Ivan Rybkin offered his deputy only tepid support. In an interview on Ekho Moskvy radio, Rybkin praised Berezovsky's work and said he would like him to stay on. But he stopped short of denying the rumors that Berezovsky faced dismissal.
"Serious staff reductions lie ahead," he said. "Some people will be dismissed. I am sure that if people are relieved of their jobs they are sure to find some other niche for themselves; certainly this is true of Berezovsky."
Asked about those rumors Wednesday, Berezovsky said little. "Rumors of my sacking have been circulating almost from the moment I was appointed," he said. "You would be better putting that question to Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin."
In a personal attack on Nemtsov. Berezovsky hinted that the minister, who is widely considered Yeltsin's heir apparent, could never become president because of his Jewish heritage. Berezovsky is himself Jewish.
"It seems to me that Mr. Nemtsov has a purely genetic problem: He is a Boris Yefimovich, at times he is a Boris Abramovich, but wants to be Boris Nikolayevich," said Berezovsky, putting emphasis on his and Nemtsov's Jewish-sounding patronymics. He added: "You don't become a president, presidents are born. If Boris Yefimovich realizes this then I think that he will stop with his allegations."
Berezovsky also dismissed Nemtsov's claim that he had not dropped his business interests. "I work on Chechnya," he said. "It is clear that this is not something you can do in the break between meetings on the sale and purchase of goods. It demands absolutely intense work 24 hours a day."
Berezovsky was among seven leading bankers who backed Yeltsin in last summer's presidential election. Afterward, Berezovsky boasted that those financial interests would shape government policy. He made clear that Cabinet reformers such as Chubais owed their appointments to the bankers clique.
However, in recent months Berezovsky and fellow financier Vladimir Gusinsky have fallen out with the bank clique over the sell-off of Svyazinvest and Norilsk Nickel, the world's biggest nickel producer. The Norilsk auction was also won by Uneximbank. Further squabbling is expected in the fall when a stake in state-owned oil giant Rosneft comes up for auction. Uneximbank, Berezovsky's Sibneft and major western oil companies are lined up to bid for the company.
Berezovsky said first deputy prime ministers Anatoly Chubais and Boris Nemtsov were making "an important strategic mistake" by breaking with the financial elite that bankrolled President Boris Yeltsin's re-election last year.
"I believe that today business is the very class that is the cornerstone of government," he said at a press conference. "Businessmen should be the first people to whom the government pays heed.
"Both Nemtsov and Chubais, when they entered the government, decided that as the people in power they have complete right to ignore what small, medium and big business are thinking."
It was the latest salvo in Berezovsky's war of words with the government over last month's controversial sell-off of telecommunications giant Svyazinvest.
Nemtsov and Chubais hailed the $1.9 billion sale as an end to the sweetheart deals of the past when banking circles close to the Kremlin bought state enterprises at discount prices. But the losing consortium, in which Berezovsky is reported to have had a stake, cried foul. It alleged that Nemtsov had colluded with the winners of the bid, Uneximbank.
Nemtsov hit back this week, accusing Berezovsky of using his post as deputy secretary of the Security Council to promote his business interests, and hinting that he should quit the job. The financier has said he put aside his business interests when he joined the government. Those interests reportedly included ownership of, or stakes in LogoVAZ auto dealerships, the oil company Sibneft, and ORT television.
Berezovsky's position appeared even more precarious Wednesday after Yeltsin chided him for his role in the release of hostages kidnapped in the breakaway republic of Chechnya.
In addition, Security Council chief Ivan Rybkin offered his deputy only tepid support. In an interview on Ekho Moskvy radio, Rybkin praised Berezovsky's work and said he would like him to stay on. But he stopped short of denying the rumors that Berezovsky faced dismissal.
"Serious staff reductions lie ahead," he said. "Some people will be dismissed. I am sure that if people are relieved of their jobs they are sure to find some other niche for themselves; certainly this is true of Berezovsky."
Asked about those rumors Wednesday, Berezovsky said little. "Rumors of my sacking have been circulating almost from the moment I was appointed," he said. "You would be better putting that question to Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin."
In a personal attack on Nemtsov. Berezovsky hinted that the minister, who is widely considered Yeltsin's heir apparent, could never become president because of his Jewish heritage. Berezovsky is himself Jewish.
"It seems to me that Mr. Nemtsov has a purely genetic problem: He is a Boris Yefimovich, at times he is a Boris Abramovich, but wants to be Boris Nikolayevich," said Berezovsky, putting emphasis on his and Nemtsov's Jewish-sounding patronymics. He added: "You don't become a president, presidents are born. If Boris Yefimovich realizes this then I think that he will stop with his allegations."
Berezovsky also dismissed Nemtsov's claim that he had not dropped his business interests. "I work on Chechnya," he said. "It is clear that this is not something you can do in the break between meetings on the sale and purchase of goods. It demands absolutely intense work 24 hours a day."
Berezovsky was among seven leading bankers who backed Yeltsin in last summer's presidential election. Afterward, Berezovsky boasted that those financial interests would shape government policy. He made clear that Cabinet reformers such as Chubais owed their appointments to the bankers clique.
However, in recent months Berezovsky and fellow financier Vladimir Gusinsky have fallen out with the bank clique over the sell-off of Svyazinvest and Norilsk Nickel, the world's biggest nickel producer. The Norilsk auction was also won by Uneximbank. Further squabbling is expected in the fall when a stake in state-owned oil giant Rosneft comes up for auction. Uneximbank, Berezovsky's Sibneft and major western oil companies are lined up to bid for the company.