This last week we had a new scandal. Once again the Russian mass media showed some pictures in which people armed to the teeth and dressed in black and camouflage clothes were seen. But if these used to be members of law enforcement agencies (the police, tax police). now members of private security firms, set up with the oligarchs' millions, have replaced them.

This time the object of division was the large Russian-Belarus oil company "Slavneft. "

As it is said, this is no laughing matter. Furthermore, the appearance of these "policemen. "wherewith it is virtually impossible to quickly establish that they are not members of a law enforcement agency, right in the center of Moscow, does not seem to scare the ordinary residents at all.

The conflict arose between M. Gutseriev, who recently returned to the post of president of the company, and the "Sukhanov-Baranovskaya" group. It is a known fact that the latter two arc distinguished by their closeness to members of the "Family" of the former Russian president. B. Yeltsin,

It should be noted that during the whole period of B. Yeltsin's presidency, the "Family" (B. Berezovsky, R. Abramovich, O. Deripaska, V. Yumashev, T. Dyachenko and others), using virtually unlimited financial possibilities and administrative levers of power, set up a scheme for obtaining control over the largest Russian industrial enterprises via the "convenient" mechanism of privatization. This, in turn, made it possible for the "Family" oligarchs to receive annual superprofits which amounted to sums of from 600 million to 1 billion US dollars in "Slavneft" alone. And all this with the rapidly growing poverty of the overwhelming majority of the country's population.

However, it seems that old times have gone for good. This scheme has broken down: administrative levers of action in respect to opponents have become ineffective, and money, as is well-known, has been hidden overseas for a long time and its unexpected appearance will result in justified questions as to where it came from.

And so it will probably not be possible to get "Slavneft" in the "Family" assets.

In parallel with the scandal around the large oil company, which has been raised in the mass media, is the conflict in the "Family's" entourage. Sukhanov and Baranovskaya are becoming dangerous companions. Yura Sukhanov is even now, as they say. "under the threat of criminal charges" and, as informed sources report, may soon "leave the stage" (probably right into a jail cell). And this, in turn, is very dangerous for the "Family, " since if Sukhanov "breaks down, " then the whole fundamental base of the "Family's" prosperity will open up in a flash.

To all appearances, Russia awaits new shocks. And not only political, but also criminal.

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