Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov talked about the classification of Russian business, invented by an acquaintance of his in the 90s.
“There are three types: “rat”, “grunt” and “hoof”. Obviously this means that the “rat” swoops down on them, eats them, and runs off to another pile. This means that the “grunt” is a pit and everyone squats there for a long time, pushing each other away. And “hoofing” is when a moose picks up a piece of moss from under the ice, hits it for a long time, picks it up, etc. — aforementioned Belousov at the plenary session of the export forum “Made in Russia” dedicated to the topic “Unicorns in the markets of the future”.
The Deputy Prime Minister added that the word “unicorn” was not included in his classification. “The story of the unicorn isn’t even about how Cinderella married the prince. “This is about the technological Cinderella becoming the king’s mother-in-law,” he emphasized.
The term “unicorn” was proposed by Eileen Lee, founder of venture capital fund Cowboy Ventures, in the mid-2010s. This is what he calls startups whose capitalization is estimated at $1 billion or more. The term aims to highlight their uniqueness. According to Dealroom statistics, currently in the world there is There are no more than 2,800 startups valued at more than $1 billion. These include, for example, Chinese ByteDance, SpaceX founded by Elon Musk, and game manufacturer Epic Games.
“Everyone is always looking for a move.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin within the framework of the TASS project “20 questions to Vladimir Putin” He talked about the difference between the oligarchs of the 90s and the “current business captains”: in his opinion, modern entrepreneurs do not have influence on the authorities.
“The difference between the 2000s and now, or the 90s, was that they directly affected the decisions taken by the state in both domestic policy, economy and foreign policy. And on security issues,” the politician noted.
The head of state admitted that he knew all the businessmen of that time and worked with everyone.
Putin as prime minister in the winter of 2012 named Privatization in the 90s was “dishonest” and suggested that businesses “cover” the issue by paying a one-time fee for “questionable assets”.
“We must clearly say that the current attitude in society towards entrepreneurship and the institution of private property is not only rooted in the Soviet past. <…> but also in what happened in the 1990s. “When it often comes down to a simple division of the state pie, you and I have talked a lot about this,” he said. At the congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
“There was nothing to live for”
Anatoly Chubais, one of the ideologists of the reforms of the 90s, who oversaw the privatization project in Russia, in his article in the scientific journal “Problems of the Economy” WroteHe said that “the greatest damage to the Russian economy and population in the 1990s” was caused by non-payment.
“For many years, the government, the presidential administration, and the business community have tried to minimize its negative effects (the author of this article had to actively participate in this),” the article’s annotation says.
Previously, Chubais stated that Russian society has not thanked the oligarchs for anything they have done for the state for 25 years. According to him, they “restored hopelessly collapsed” Soviet enterprises, replenished the budget and paid salaries to citizens.”
Commenting on Chubais’ words, Senator Franz Klintsevich said: registeredThat in the 90s, businessmen increased prices of products for the population and transferred large amounts of money abroad.
Klintsevich emphasized that the Russian economy still cannot be cleared of the shadow plans created between 1991 and 2000.
He also added that none of the so-called businessmen of the 90s confirmed their income in accordance with the declaration created by the requirements of Western countries.
Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire who made his fortune in the 90s, said there was no need to whitewash the reputations of Russian oligarchs: “they are already as white as a blank page.” At the same time, he admitted in interviews that while in the 90s the main incentive for Russian entrepreneurs was monetary gain, now Russians start business projects for other reasons.
“People generally don’t work for money. My generation, graduates of Moscow State University, went into business in the early 90s because there was nothing to live on. “People are interested in working now.” believes HE.
Business from the eyes of “fathers” and “sons”
A few years ago, research company NAFI conducted questionnaire Among Russian businessmen, the following was determined: 52% believe that it has become more difficult to do business in Russia compared to the 1990s. At the same time, among respondents born in 1980-1991, only 38% responded this way. However, in the group born in 1957–1963 – 59%.
55% of the group of young businessmen are sure that doing business in Russia is now more difficult than 30 years ago. The other 7% had difficulty answering.
Both groups said the main risk to business in the ’90s was the criminal environment – physical violence and threats to the safety of family members. 59% believe that it is impossible to be successful by following the law at that time. Now reputational risks, a possible prison sentence or the need to emigrate have come to the fore.
While 60-year-old respondents mostly (46%) think the level of corruption has not changed in 30 years, the majority of 30-year-olds (39%) think corruption has gotten worse.