榭卧价贸易土孝 金融英语阅读 Supplementary Reading The Kremlin repents,maybe Can Vladimir Putin and Russia put the Yukos affair behind them? "WE WANTED to make things better,"a Russian prime minister under Boris Yeltsin once remarked,"but they turned out like always."Many in the West now feel similarly about Vladimir Putin.What at first seemed in Russia's president to be commitments to democracy and internationalism have turned out not to be.Another early hope for Mr.Putin's presidency-that market reforms and business-friendly policy would engender sustainable growth-has been battered by the dismemberment of Yukos,once Russia's leading oil company.But there may be signs that in its relations with business,at least,the Kremlin will yet revive some of the early optimism. Some Moscow businessmen see Mr.Putin as an irredeemable homo sovieticus; witness his appointment of Mikhail Fradkov,the economically doltish prime minister. The president may have dabbled with economic reform in his first term,runs the argument,but he abandoned it when rocketing oil prices offered an easier path to growth. Mr.Putin,they say,has an old KGB man's attitude to big business:that it is inevitably dirty,potentially seditious and must be subordinated.According to this view,the key rivalry within the government is between competing clans of silo-viki (roughly,power people).Alexei Kudrin and German Gref,liberal ministers of finance and economy respectively,seem to have been marginalised. Another (albeit smaller)camp says that,while he may not be a democrat,Mr. Putin has paid enough attention to China's recent history to realise what is the best way to revive Russia's greatness.This analysis dwells on the impressive macroeconomic stability under Mr.Putin,and regards the last two Yukos-dominated years as a blip.And there is,indeed,some evidence to suggest that economic liberals may be making a comeback. At the end of last month,Mr.Putin met Russia's top businessmen(also known as oligarchs).It was at such a meeting five years ago that,legend has it,Mr.Putin told them they could keep what they got in the privatisations of the 1990s,if they paid their taxes and kept out of politics.He has now proposed to cut the legal period in which privatisations can be reviewed from ten years to three.This,say the optimists, confirms that nobody else will suffer the fate of Mikhail Khodorkovsky,the former Yukos chief who violated the no-politics rule,was arrested in 2003 and will spend ten more years in prison if the prosecutors in his climaxing trial get their way 第1页共2页金融英语阅读 Supplementary Reading The Kremlin repents, maybe Can Vladimir Putin and Russia put the Yukos affair behind them? “WE WANTED to make things better," a Russian prime minister under Boris Yeltsin once remarked, "but they turned out like always." Many in the West now feel similarly about Vladimir Putin. What at first seemed in Russia's president to be commitments to democracy and internationalism have turned out not to be. Another early hope for Mr. Putin's presidency—that market reforms and business-friendly policy would engender sustainable growth—has been battered by the dismemberment of Yukos, once Russia's leading oil company. But there may be signs that in its relations with business, at least, the Kremlin will yet revive some of the early optimism. Some Moscow businessmen see Mr. Putin as an irredeemable homo sovieticus; witness his appointment of Mikhail Fradkov, the economically doltish prime minister. The president may have dabbled with economic reform in his first term, runs the argument, but he abandoned it when rocketing oil prices offered an easier path to growth. Mr. Putin, they say, has an old KGB man's attitude to big business: that it is inevitably dirty, potentially seditious and must be subordinated. According to this view, the key rivalry within the government is between competing clans of silo-viki (roughly, power people). Alexei Kudrin and German Gref, liberal ministers of finance and economy respectively, seem to have been marginalised. Another (albeit smaller) camp says that, while he may not be a democrat, Mr. Putin has paid enough attention to China's recent history to realise what is the best way to revive Russia's greatness. This analysis dwells on the impressive macroeconomic stability under Mr. Putin, and regards the last two Yukos-dominated years as a blip. And there is, indeed, some evidence to suggest that economic liberals may be making a comeback. At the end of last month, Mr. Putin met Russia's top businessmen (also known as oligarchs). It was at such a meeting five years ago that, legend has it, Mr. Putin told them they could keep what they got in the privatisations of the 1990s, if they paid their taxes and kept out of politics. He has now proposed to cut the legal period in which privatisations can be reviewed from ten years to three. This, say the optimists, confirms that nobody else will suffer the fate of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Yukos chief who violated the no-politics rule, was arrested in 2003 and will spend ten more years in prison if the prosecutors in his climaxing trial get their way. 第 1 页 共 2 页