Tycoons are out of Russia...

Friday, December 9, 2022

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Russia plans a sweeping review next year of the much-criticized privatization of state property, a move that analysts said Friday may signal more trouble for the tycoons who made fortunes after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The government's Audit Chamber has given no details about what its analysis would entail, but it comes amid increasing signs that some 1990s post-Soviet deals may be at risk. "Next year, (we) plan to analyze the results of the privatization of state assets over the past 10 years," the Audit Chamber, Russia's highest auditing body, said in a statement. President Vladimir Putin repeatedly has said he would not reverse the sale of state-owned enterprises, but he warned for the first time this week that the government will crack down on those who broke the law during the privatization process. Without mentioning names, he said "five or seven or 10" moguls may have violated the law. On Friday, prosecutors won a court order to keep a major Yukos shareholder, Platon Lebedev, in custody another three months pending his own trial on fraud charges.