It is a truism that rapid accumulation of wealth by a privileged minority is bound to generate lasting resentment by the majority. It is a truism that rapid accumulation of wealth by a privileged minority is bound to generate lasting resentment by the majority. It is the latter...

... Prokhorov, he only asks that his multibillion-dollar fortune be safeguarded in return for toeing the Kremlin line. Why did Putin prefer Prokhorov over Yavlinsky? Many in the West consider Prokhorov to be an independent candidate because of his enormous wealth. But actually the opposite is true. The larger a Russian's wealth, the more he depends on the Kremlin to preserve that wealth. In addition, Yavlinsky would probably have been less manageable as a presidential candidate than Prokhorov. Moreover...

... absolutely sure way of organizing economic life? If the quest is for a way of securing perpetual security or dominance, then the answer is "no." Underpinning comparisons of different models is the wish to find an absolutely secure way of generating wealth and prosperity. In a market economy, however, competition rapidly leads to emulation, and high profits associated with an original innovation turn out to be transitory. From a longer-term perspective, however, there are only temporary surges of...

... "the strength of Russia rests in Siberia," as one popular refrigerator magnet contends with words emblazoned across the sky above a powerful oil derrick, then Siberia's capital is surely Tyumen. Buoyed by the seemingly infinite oil and gas wealth channeled through the city from the icy north of the Tyumen region, the capital dazzles with a beautiful mixture of exquisitely restored tsarist-era buildings and modern office buildings abuzz with business. Founded in 1586 as the first Siberian...

Russia's oil wealth Reserve Fund rose to 1.86 trillion rubles ($61.4 billion) on Feb. 1, compared with 811.5 billion rubles a month earlier, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The figures indicated that the fund, established to insure the budget against oil price...

... last week from Citi, Bond was back with an interesting poll in which researchers asked Russians to assess for themselves which class they belong to. "When asked directly whether they were middle-class, a mere 35% of Russians, perhaps thinking of wealth levels seen in U.S. soaps, saw themselves as certainly or probably middle class. However, when asked what social group they belonged to, over 80% placed themselves somewhere in the middle classes," says Bond. So that's clear then, isn't it?

... property through a London-based asset management firm. The deal has not yet been done, but it is expected to be signed next week. Her bid is the highest of a shortlist of three or four formally made to Nama in the closing weeks of 2011. Baturina's wealth is estimated at $1.2 billion. She has interests in construction, manufacturing, farming and property. She had set up her main business, Inteko, in 1991. Baturina and her husband bought a house in London in 2010, and later told media that they were...

... dollar. “This investment is an important building block in strengthening Moscow as an international financial center,” RDIF chief executive Kirill Dmitriyev said in a statement. He said the RDIF could use its relationships with sovereign wealth funds and other investors to pursue additional pre-IPO investment in MICEX-RTS and to improve its IPO prospects. The merger will create a “one-stop shop” for trading in stocks, bonds, derivatives and currencies, and clear the way for...

... KazMunaiGas and its London-listed subsidiary for mishandling the labor dispute with oilmen. He has also sacked his billionaire son-in-law, Timur Kulibayev, one of Kazakhstan's richest and most influential people, from the post of head of sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna. Prosecutors said the current and former mayors of Zhanaozen had embezzled funds earmarked for the oil city's social projects under the sponsorship of local oil firms. Criminal proceedings have been launched against several...

... Vedomosti on Monday. "If we want to develop the services offered by the Sberbank group, it's right that we are called Sberbank." The CIB division of Sberbank will be co-led by Vardanian and Sberbank executive Alexander Bazarov. Sberbank's wealth management department, which will sell investment products to private clients and include asset management and private banking, will be headed by Vardanian and another Sberbank executive, Bella Zlatkis. Sucher said he first got involved with Troika...

... still be in his political prime. What's more, Putin, as he reminded us during his New Year's greetings several weeks ago, was born in the year of the dragon — and, according to Chinese astrologers, those born in dragon years tend to enjoy health, wealth and a long life. Regardless of whether you believe in astrology or not, this is a bad sign for Russia's future. Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times. 170364

... priority to vested state and personal interests. "VTB is a very good reflection of how business in Russia occurs today, which is on the one hand state ownership and on the other direction by individuals who are much more concerned about their own wealth than about the benefit to the country or the owners of the institution," said one banking insider who requested anonymity to speak candidly. A senior executive at a private Russian bank who left VTB dissatisfied after a year there said he...