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Koszalin Institute
of Comparative European Studies (KICES)
ul.
Zielona 13/1
75664 Koszalin
Poland
info@kices.org
www.kices.org |
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Business
and politics in Russia’s regions
Researcher responsible: Julia Kusznir
Duration: 2003 - 2006
Research question and analytical framework
The existing literature
on post-socialist transformations in general, and on the role of Russian
business elites in particular, sees business elites (‘oligarchs’) as a
fundamental threat to democratic processes, in that they have taken on
political power through informal agreements and corruption.
My work asks under what
conditions, in what form and with what consequences business elites
influence political processes in Russia’s regions. The study uses a
regime-based approach: it concentrates on the development of forms of
coordination and regulation by state and business actors. I employ the
typology of regimes developed by Natalia Lapina et al. for relations between
business and politics in Russian regions: the ‘model of the privatisation of
power’, where political power has been taken over by the major corporate
interest in the region; the ‘partnership model’, where the regional
political elite cooperates with business and the ‘patronage model’, where
the regional political elites maintain tight control over business.
The project looks at the
oil and gas companies in the most important oil and gas-producing regions in
Russia by comparing different case studies. The regions were chosen in order
to cover different types of regime. The Republic of Tatarstan and the oil
company, Tatneft, provided an example of the ‘patronage model’. Tiumen
Oblast, where TNK-BP is active, and Iamalo-Nenets Okrug, which is dominated
by the national company Gazprom, provided illustrations of the ‘model of the
privatisation of power’. Lastly, the Khanty-Mansi Okrug, where a number of
firms are active, was included in order to demonstrate the ‘partnership’
model. Each case study described the political and business elites in the
region and analyses their interaction. This enables me to assess the
accuracy of Lapina’s model in describing the political regimes of these
regions. I can also draw a more precise picture of business-state relations
than that which she offers.
Finally, I look at the
influence of these regimes on the political and economic development of the
regions. I argue, contrary to the current orthodoxy, that under certain
conditions business actors, even in the case of the Russian oligarchs, can
be constructive and can intervene in politics to the benefit of general
economic development. An assessment of their role in economic policy must
therefore always be specific to each case.
Progress report
The project began in
winter 2003 and was completed in autumn 2006.
Publications
Andreas Heinrich, Julia Kusznir, Heiko Pleines: Foreign investment and national interests in the Russian oil and gas industry,
in: Post-Communist Economies, 4/2002, pp. 495-507.
Julia Kusznir, Heiko Pleines: Reichtum für wen? Zur politischen Ökonomie rußländischer Ölfelder,
in: Osteuropa 9–10/2004, pp. 340–354.
Julia Kusznir: Die
Oligarchen in den russischen Regionen,
in: Russlandanalyse 41/2005 (www.russlandanalysen.de)
Julia Kusznir, Heiko
Pleines: Die Besteuerung der Erdölwirtschaft,
in: Arbeitspapiere und Materialien, Forschungsstelle Osteuropa, 64/2005,
Bremen, pp. 48-49.
Julia Kusznir:
Wirtschaftsakteure in der regionalen Politik.
Das Beispiel der Erdölindustrie, in:
Hans-Hermann Höhmann,
Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder (Hg.): Nur ein Ölboom?
Bestimmungsfaktoren und Perspektiven der russischen Wirtschaftsentwicklung, Münster 2005, pp. 185-208.
Julia Kusznir: Der Staat
schlägt zurück. Wirtschaftspolitische Konsequenzen der Jukos-Affäre, in:
Osteuropa 7/2005, pp. 75-87.
Julia Kusznir: Der Präsident und die Gouverneure: „New Deal ”?,
in: Russlandanalyse 74/2005 (www.russlandanalysen.de)
Andreas Heinrich, Julia
Kusznir: Independent gas producers in Russia, KICES Working Paper No. 2
(2005).
Julia Kusznir: Gazprom’s Role in Regional Politics: The Case of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in: Russian Analytical Digest 1/2006
Julia Kusznir: Die russische Territorialreform. Die Zusammenlegung von Regionen im politischen Kontext, in: Russlandanalyse 90/2006 (www.russlandanalysen.de)
Julia Kusznir: Die Jukos-Affäre und ihre machtpolitischen Hintergründe, in: Ost-West Gegeninformationen, 4/2006, pp.8-11.
Andreas Heinrich, Julia Kusznir, Heiko Pleines: Prozrachnost’ v rossiiskoi neftyanoi promyshlennosti. Mezhdunarodnye standarty i prakticheskie rekommendacii, in: Makarychev, Andrej / Paleeva, Ol'ga (red.): Energeticheskii sektor Rossii: prozrachnost', bezopastnost', regional'nye variacii, Nizhnij Novgorod, 2006, pp.32-47
Julia Kusznir: Economic Actors in Russian Regional Politics: the Example of the Oil Industry,
in: Grame Gill (Ed.): Regionalism in Russian Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pp. 161-187.
Julia Kusznir: Regionale Wirtschaftsautonomie im russischen Föderalismus. Eine Fallstudie zur Erdölindustrie Tatarstans, in: Osteuropa-Wirtschaft, 1/2007, pp. 31-46.
Julia Kusznir: Der politische Einfluss von Wirtschaftseliten in russischen Regionen. Eine Analyse am Beispiel der Erdöl- und Erdgasindustrie, 1992-2005, Stuttgart: Ibidem Publishers 2007.
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