2021 | Buch

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Putinomics

How the Kremlin Damages the Russian Economy

verfasst von: Dr. Albrecht Rothacher

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Über dieses Buch

Dieses Buch wirft ein neues Licht auf die politische Ökonomie Russlands unter Putins Herrschaft. Der Autor, ein ehemaliger EU-Diplomat, präsentiert einen historischen Rückblick auf die russische Wirtschaft und 60 Jahre staatlich-kommunistischer Misswirtschaft, gefolgt von oligarchischer Privatisierung. Das Buch bietet profunde Einblicke in Putins Herrschaft und die Machtmechanismen des staatlich dominierten Managements der russischen Wirtschaft. Sie identifiziert und bewertet den Mangel an Rechtsstaatlichkeit sowie eine willkürliche und oft korrupte Verwaltung, die systematisch das Unternehmertum und die Entstehung einer unabhängigen Mittelschicht verhindert. Darüber hinaus diskutiert das Buch Russlands Haushaltspolitik, seine Abhängigkeit vom Export natürlicher Ressourcen, staatliche Unternehmen und ihre Privilegien sowie Russlands Außenhandel. Diese harte, fundierte Analyse entlarvt den Mythos von Russlands wirtschaftlicher Macht und ist eine Pflichtlektüre für jeden, der die wirtschaftlichen Realitäten des eurasischen Kontinents verstehen will oder erwägt, mit Russland Geschäfte zu machen.

Mit KI übersetzt

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. From Alexander II to Gorbachev: The Economic History of Modern Russia

Abstract

The economic history of modern Russia is portrayed to understand the mindset and constraints of today’s policymakers and businessmen. The chapter examines the consequences of decades of dysfunctional central planning for Russia’s regional development and its continued state centered approach to the economy. Yet it also reverts back to her Czarist past: the delayed liberation of the serfs, the modernization of agriculture, transportation and education, early industrialization and mass urbanisation. A case study of the trading company Von Wogau and Co illustrates the challenges. The tentative liberalization after 1905 was followed by the war economy, war communism, the New Economic Policies and collectivization. The chapter also covers the Gulag economy, Stalinist war and post-Stalinist post-war economic policies, the reformist failures of Gorbachev and examines the challenges faced by Yeltsin and his young reformers.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 2. Post-Soviet Industrial Policy: From the Red Directors to the New State Oligarchs

Abstract

The three stages of post-Soviet industrial policies are outlined: The early stage of “red directors”, who simply took over their companies, followed by the wild privatization of the Yeltsin oligarchs, whose conglomerates were then integrated into Putin’s system of state-monopoly capitalism. The fascinating story of purged and surviving old oligarchs is researched in detail as are the careers, profiles and business practices of the new state-oligarchs, and the re-emerging role of the central state. The new state-oligarchic interplay is made visible in Russia’s decisive energy export policy. The fate of foreign investors is reviewed in Bill Bowder’s Heritage Fund as a suitably instructive case study.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 3. Putin’s Autocracy: Siloviki Rule and Their Kleptocracy

Abstract

Putin’s autocratic rule for two decades has a discernible impact on how the Russian economy is run. The chapter starts with Putin’s political biography, his involvement with the transformation of the St. Petersburg economy and how later in Moscow he relied on his close circle of political and business friends, who now direct most of Russia’s dominant state-controlled sectors. It reviews their unique way of doing business, of controlling the judiciary and commanding the secret service. The testimonies of the late Politkovskaya and Litvinenko illustrate the ongoing abuse of power and corruption in high places. Equally the Magnitzky and Calvey cases demonstrate what happens to foreign investors crossing the Kremlin’s red lines. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the costs of endemic corruption, mismanagement and cronyism to the Russian economy and state.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 4. Putin’s Budget Policies

Abstract

Putin’s budget policies are shown to be on the prudent conservative side, the logic being to avoid a re-occurrence of dependence on international finance as during previous Russian crises. Yet while some sectors, like the military, the security apparatus, the armaments industry, small foreign wars and Putin’s pet projects are generously financed, other areas like health, transport infrastructure, education, R&D, housing and poverty reduction remain grossly under-funded. The chapter shows that full control of the budgetary process by the Kremlin has made this misallocation possible.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 5. The Russian Petro-State

Abstract

The evolution of Russia’s petro-state is evidenced by the development of the decisive oil and gas sectors since the nineteenth century and by the division of labour practised within the Soviet empire trading energy for manufactures from Eastern Europe. The chapter demonstrates that revenues from oil exports are used to finance the central budget and Putin’s projects, while those from gas serve to subsidize domestic consumption and energy-intensive production and to line the pockets of the friends of the Kremlin. The continuing struggle for these revenues threatens to destabilize its power structure and undermines the long-term future of the Russian energy sector.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 6. The Liberalization of Russia’s Electricity Market

Abstract

Famously Lenin decreed “Communism equals Soviet power plus electrification”. Hence the privatization of electricity generation serves as an interesting case of the transformation and current functioning of a strategic sector. Partly we witness a re-centralization and re-assertion of national control over nominally privatized regional electricity companies. As prices continue to be tightly regulated, investments for modernization remain low. As an alternative, Russian operators tend to purchase less-regulated electricity companies in neighbouring former Soviet republics, which is shown in this study.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 7. The State-Controlled Banks and the State-Owned Enterprises and Their Privileges

Abstract

State controlled banks and state-owned enterprises are strategically placed at the heart of the Russian economy. This chapter shows that they are directly managed by key Kremlin figures, operate for their personal benefit and serve the Kremlin’s industrial policy interests foremost, and certainly not the commands and needs of the market. This study shows their privileged role in public procurement, in import protection, and in the direction of capital investment in industries and companies favoured by the Kremlin to the detriment of other more market oriented companies.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 8. Russian Industry

Abstract

Russian industry still struggles with the burden of seven decades of its Soviet past, as evident in the mono-industrial towns within single sector “territorial production complexes” favoured by Stalinist and post-Stalinist central planners. The chapter also reviews the current situation of the armament and the car industries within these settings as well as the international competitive and collaborative positions as case studies of significant processing sectors.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 9. Russia’s Railways and Logistics

Abstract

In the absence of continental motorways Russian railways then and now continue to play a key role for logistics and human transport. Zhe chapter analyzes in detail the operations and problems faced by this underfinanced, poorly managed and politically directed state monopoly.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 10. Russian Agriculture, Forestry and the Agrofood Business

Abstract

After the regular crop failures of the Soviet era, Russian agriculture has become a major competitor in the international cereal and oilseeds markets. This chapter demonstrates why the dismantling of the kolkhoz/sovkhoz system did not create a mass of private smallholders but rather ended up with large-scale commercial farms. Decades of collectivization, the trauma of the “Holodomor” against the “kulaks” and the reprivatization process sabotaged by officialdom in the 1990s systematically expunged any spirit of entrepreneurialism among Russian farmers who continue as underpaid farm hands if not leaving the countryside altogether. The legal uncertainties of the land market and the lack of access to finances favoured the emergence of politically well-connected agrobusiness privileged by import protection. The chapter also covers the agricultural policies of the Eurasian Economic Union, the forestry and wood processing sectors, and as a case study recounts the experiences of the Tiraspol Kvint distillery from the Czarist beginnings to the present.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 11. Russian SMEs and Their Problems

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates how in spite of all administrative difficulties, regulatory discrimination and the denial of access to finance, the politically unwanted sector of small and medium-sized enterprises still survives. Facing legal uncertainties and arbitrary fiscal practices, their modus operandi is guided by the notions of short-term survival and minimal long-term investments within Russia. Hence they remain weak in R&D, for instance, and prevalent mainly in the service sectors of the main urban population centres, the study states.

Albrecht Rothacher

Chapter 12. External Trade: The Roles of the EU, of the Eurasian Economic Union and of China

Abstract

Russia’s external trade remains dominated by the quasi-colonial pattern of raw material exports traded for processed imports, as evidenced here with its major partners, the EU and China. The chapter demonstrates that the Kremlin’s stated objectives of autarchy and import substitution have not made a difference, except to create a new class of politically privileged manufacturers at the expense of the rest of the economy. Further, the very limited role of the Eurasian Economic Union is being analyzed. It appears stymied by the constraints of intergovernmentalism and the justified fear of Russian domination on part of its weaker members. The reverse is true in unequal Chinese–Russian trade relations, as the chapter demonstrates growing Chinese economic and political might with a stagnating Russia turning into the role of a resentful junior partner of interest to the Chinese mainly for its untapped Siberian riches. Aa an unsustainable relationship, the chapter concludes.

Albrecht Rothacher

Titel: Putinomics
verfasst von: Dr. Albrecht Rothacher
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-74077-1
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-74076-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74077-1