The Economist’s long form online magazine, 1843, has a profile piece this week on Andrey Melnichenko. Really very interesting indeed – and what an astonishing character…!
To have been able to navigate the end of the Soviet Union and the secession of States into independent countries, and essentially to come up smelling of roses, whilst astonishing levels of corruption, nepotism, and place vying went on, amongst the new emerging class of Oligarchs, surely shows some of the most natural brilliance – in the entire world! The fact that he constantly converted the roubles he was making (largely as their banker), into dollars, such that he was protected when the great rouble crash happened, just shows astonishing foresight… and the diplomatic and personal skills to import huge physical amounts of dollars.
As to his political ideals – I haven’t yet read his essay in the main magazine, but I saw the summary of it…. I’m not so sure. His approach appears to be cosmopolitan, democratic, and ideal – all of the things that modern Russia has not been, and has become quite effectively self-reinforcing as a Security State. Beating such vociferously well entrenched vested interests, literally supported by arms, is a different category of fight… But, certainly one of the main things that I took away from this piece was, here is a man that it’s not wise to bet against…
#Russia #TheEconomist #AfterUkraine #Melnichenko
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