Who are the Barons and Magnates?

Abstract

Particularly among those who are ill-disposed towards the oligarchs it is often implied or explicitly stated that their malevolent behaviour and pernicious effect on Russian society derive from some particular aspect of their Soviet backgrounds. Those who view them in more benign terms are likely to be impressed by market-oriented entrepreneurial skills that they came to possess in unpromising Soviet circumstances but which could be put to good use only after the collapse of communism.