Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the Looting of Russia

428 Pages·2000·5.852 MB·English

by  Paul Klebnikov

GODFATHER
KREMLIN
OF THE
GODFATHER
KREMLIN
OF THE
Boris Berezovsky
and the Looting of Russia
Paul Klebnikov
Harcourt, Inc.
NEW YORK SAN DIEGO LONDON
Copyright © 2000 by Paul Klebnikov
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be
mailed to the following address: Permissions Department, Harcourt, Inc.,
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www.narcourt.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Klebnikov, Paul.
Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the looting of Russia/Paul Klebnikov.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-15-100621-0
1. Berezovskire, B. A. (Boris Abramovich), 1946- 2. Businessmen-Russia
(Federation)-Biography. 3. Capitalists and financiers-Russia (Federation)
Biography. 4. Russia (Federation)-Economic conditions-1991-
I. Title: Boris Berezovsky and the looting of Russia. II. Title.
HC340.12.K555 2000
338.092-dc21 99-462183
[B]
Text set in Simoncini Garamond
Printed in the United States of America
First edition
ACEGIKJHFDB
To Jim Michaels /or training me as a reporter;
To Forbes for standing firm,
To Musa /or her support

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pre/ace xz
Introduction 1
Cast of Characters 7
1. The Great Mob War 11
2. The Collapse of the Old Regime 46
3. Trader's Paradise 77
4. Selling the Country for Vouchers 110
5. The Listyev Murder 144
6. Privatizing the Profits of Aeroflot 170
7. The Race for Oil 188
8. The Black Treasury of the Yeltsin Campaign 212
9. Oligarchy 248
10. Vladimir Putin Takes Power 284
Epilogue 318
Appendix I: Boris Berezovsky Appeals to the President 327
Appendix II: The Yeltsin Campaign Covers Up 337
Appendix III: Berezovsky's Empire 345
List ofS ources 346
Notes 361
Index 391
vii

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
W. B. YEATS