... knew anything about the bill until information was recently leaked to the media. Nor did anyone know that the bill was heavily lobbied by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, or RSPP — unofficially known as "the union of oligarchs." As oligarchs have increased their wealth over the past 15 or 20 years, another disturbing trend has emerged: Soon after high-ranking officials occupy their posts in government, their once-untalented relatives suddenly become ingenious...

Russia's richest man recognized the value of Facebook three years ago when he invested in the social-networking company and has now enjoyed a payday of about $1 billion, propelling him further ahead of Russia's oligarchs, who have largely stuck with oil and steel. Russia's richest man recognized the value of Facebook three years ago when he invested in the social-networking company and has now enjoyed a payday of about $1 billion, propelling him further...

Prince Michael of Kent, cousin of the queen, has received £320,000 ($514,000) from oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a Russian exile living in London. Prince Michael of Kent, cousin of the queen, has received £320,000 ($514,000) from oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a Russian exile living in London, The Sunday Times reported. The paper said...

... half as much last year compared with sales in 2003, when the launch of the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art put the city on the cultural map and galleries mushroomed — many launched as vanity projects by the girlfriends and wives of Russian oligarchs. Salakhova said her total profit last year after expenses was $60,000 — a paltry sum in the billion-dollar sector. A successful artist in her own right, she has been financing the gallery out of her earnings. "If the gallery had been...

....2 percent. The company, which plans an IPO that a source previously said could be in the second half of 2012, is controlled by Russia's richest man, Alisher Usmanov, who took his holding to a majority last month by buying some of the shares held by oligarch Mikhail Fridman and Nordic telecoms firm TeliaSonera. (Reuters)

A<span id="bxid_911674"> prosecutor </span>report said more than $320 million worth of<span id="bxid_911674"> </span>illegally obtained property and<span id="bxid_911674"> </span>funds had been seized as a<span id="bxid_911674"> </span>result of<span id="bxid_911674"> </span>requests to<span id="bxid_911674"> </span>foreign governments, including real estate in France...

The $982.5 million sale of four development properties, including two luxury hotels, is moving Bidzina Ivanishvili a step closer to becoming a presidential candidate in Georgia and the Gutseriyev-Shishkhanov family closer to seizing the luxury hotel market in Moscow. The $982.5 million sale of four development properties, including two luxury hotels, is moving Bidzina Ivanishvili a step closer to becoming a presidential candidate in Georgia and...

... Prokhorov, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Kudrin. That is because people prefer more experienced leaders, Dmitriyev said. It will be hard for Prokhorov to expand his support base because "most people" feel persistently negative about oligarchs, the study said. 175768 179742

.... Over the past 12 years, Russia has become a full-fledged mafia state. One day, historians will chart its exact structure, but it seems clear that it consists of several large families headed by President Vladimir Putin's close associates and loyal oligarchs. Alongside them, countless crews of siloviki, bureaucrats, gangsters and affiliated businessmen work on their own, their networks varying from local to nationwide. A friend recently had her car stolen. She reported it to the local police and...

Billionaire Mikhail Fridman resigned Monday as chief executive of TNK-BP, plunging the country's No. 3 oil firm deeper into crisis and challenging co-owner BP's grip on the business. Billionaire Mikhail Fridman resigned Monday as chief executive of TNK-BP, plunging the country's No. 3 oil firm deeper into crisis and challenging co-owner BP's grip on the business. His departure reflected a further breakdown in relations between the British oil major and the four Russian shareholders, led by Fridman...

The Investigative Committee has opened an inquiry against self-exiled businessman Boris Berezovsky, who recently pledged a $1.5 million bounty for the arrest of Vladimir Putin. Self-exiled billionaire Boris Berezovsky, who recently pledged a 50 million ruble ($1.5 million) bounty for the arrest of President Vladimir Putin, is being investigated for "calling on Russian citizens to commit acts of mass disorder," the Investigative Committee said Tuesday. The committee opened two separate...

... then you won't be able to sell anything from a kiosk," he said. The entrepreneurs agreed that those with vested interests in supermarket chains were behind the new legislation. Yevdokimov saw a deeper conspiracy. "It's not only that the oligarchs want our business, that's just the surface," he said. "The real people behind this law want Russians to be nothing more than cattle." He then said that the current government is in league with Western powers to plunder the country's...

... involved represented a small fraction of the market, the pricing in most cases was in line with international practice, and the loans-for-shares program only explains a small part of the country's large wealth gap. The biggest beneficiaries were not the oligarchs but Soviet-era industrial managers. Having raised this specter during a political campaign, it will hopefully be quietly dropped. After all, there are other, much bigger skeletons lurking in that closet of the 1990s. It would be enough on its...

... of prestige among Ukraine's powerful elite riding on a successful tournament. But freeing Tymoshenko still does not seem an option for Yanukovych. The charismatic opposition politician directly threatened the business interests of many of Ukraine's oligarchs when she was in power. Commentators say Yanukovych has nursed a deep grudge since his humiliation in the 2004 Orange Revolution, which she led and which deprived him of the presidency when his election was judged rigged and overturned. Sharp...