[Opinion] Russian Mafia

`Oligarch` refers to a small group of rulers who often exercise power for their own interests. Greek philosopher and scholar Aristotle once noted that oligarchy was a corrupt form of Greek aristocracy. The word, therefore, seems rather out-of-date and of little use today when democracy is a widely adopted political system. In Russia, however, `oligarch,’ which shares the same meaning with its English counterpart, is still a familiar word to most people there. It is like `a small group of ruling elites centering on nouveau riche in finance and energy sectors.

▷The word `Mafia` came from Sicilia, northern Italy in 1865 when a large group of gangsters began to wield a far-reaching influence on the local economy and community. Then, it later became a word meaning criminal organizations engaging in gambling, loan sharking and moonshining in America. The legendary gangster figure Al Capone was a mafia boss in Chicago gangland era. In former Soviet Union throughout the 1970s, it was used to refer to profit-takers in the underground economy and corrupt officials. Now, the word has an even broader meaning that covers all kinds of criminal rings and corrupt power. There are various kinds of mafias like `traffic police mafia,` `finance mafia` and `Yeltin mafia.` And oligarch is used as a synonym to the word mafia.

▷It is estimated that there are some 6,200 mafia rings and 500,000 mobs in Russia, having their hands on about 1,500 state-owned businesses and 400 or so banks. Some experts suggest that about 40% of the Russian economy is ruled by those mobs. A report released in the U.S. point to that some 200 big mafia rings are engaging in a variety of businesses like drug trafficking, prostitute, money laundering and weapons sales in 58 countries across the world, especially centering on East Europe, North and Latin America and Israel. They appear out of reach of government regulations.

▷French daily Le Monde wrote on November 28 that a former big-name mob recently called Russian President Bladimir Putin a captive of Russian mafias. RusAl, the world’s largest aluminum producer based in Russia, which was established at the time the president took office in May 2000, is a joint work created by corrupt officials and oligarchs, the former big wig disclosed, adding the president is not free from their influence, therefore. Putin is a handpicked successor of former President Yeltin. In his early years in office, Putin waged a war with oligarchs who were a buttress for his predecessor’s government, charging they were “feeding on the nation’s economy.” Yet, now it seems that he has become a part of the huge chain of corruption himself.