Putin's Government and the Russian Oligarchy

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in several phases and various ways, Russian governmental properties were surrendered to buyers. Subsequently, many individuals gained enormous economic power and thus started exercising political influence and interfering in the macro decision making of the country. After Vladimir Putin took power, these so-called oligarchs were forced to change their ways. The article starts with the question of Putin's policy toward these individuals and ends with how this policy changed the situation created by Russia's oligarchs. The article argues that by drafting the "equal distance" law, Putin sought for restoring power in Kremlin and to reserve clear boundary with the oligarchs and the owners of large commercial firms. From this moment, the oligarchs have been dispersed to Russia's regions and districts and at the federal level have become less effective, though still more loyal than Yeltsin era.