Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the Looting of RussiaBoris Berezovsky's business career has been meteoric. In just six years he managed to seize control of Russia's largest auto manufacturer, largest TV network, national airline, and one of the world's biggest oil companies. When Moscow's gangster families battled one another in the Great Mob War of 1993-1994, Berezovsky was in the thick of it. He was badly burned by a car bomb; his driver was decapitated. A year later, Berezovsky emerged as the prime suspect in the assassination of the director of the TV network he acquired. Although plagued by scandal, he enjoyed President Yeltsin's support, serving as the personal "financial advisor" to Yeltsin and his family. In 1996, Berezovsky organized the financing of Yeltsin's re-election campaign-a campaign marred by fraud, embezzlement, and attempted murder. Berezovsky became the president's most influential political advisor, playing a key role in forming governments and dismissing prime ministers. Having labored to privatize the economy, Berezovsky privatized the state. Based on hundreds of taped interviews with top businessmen and government officials, as well as on secret police reports, contractual documents, and surveillance tapes, Godfather of the Kremlin is both a gripping story and a unique historical document. |
Contents
Preface મૈં | 1 |
Cast of Characters | 7 |
The Collapse of the Old Regime | 46 |
Copyright | |
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Aeroflot Alekperov Aleksandr aluminum Anatoly Chubais Andava André & Cie assassination author by phone author in Moscow Avtovaz Avva Bere Berezovsky interview Boris Berezovsky Boris Yeltsin boss businessmen capital cash Chechen Chechnya Chernomyrdin Communist corruption criminal Davydov interviews director Dyachenko election export foreign trade Forus funds Fyodorov Gaidar gangster Gazeta Gazprom Gorbachev Gusinsky Gusinsky's Ibid ILYUSHIN interview with Kommersant-Daily Kiriyenko Kokh Kommersant Korzhakov interviews Kremlin later Lebed Lesnevskaya Lisovsky Listyev loans-for-shares auctions Logovaz Lukoil Luzhkov managers Maskhadov Menatep Mikhail million Moscow Movladi Udugov murder Nikolai Glushkov oil company Oleg oligarchs Onexim Bank organized crime partner percent police political Potanin President Yeltsin presidential privatization Putin ruble RUOP source Russian government Security Service Sergei Shamil Basayev Sibneft Skuratov Soviet Union stake Streletsky interviews Svyazinvest Tanya Tatyana Dyachenko told Udugov Valentin Yumashev Vladimir Vladimir Gusinsky voucher Yavlinsky Yeltsin campaign Yumashev zovsky