NEWSLINK: New Rules in Old Corruption Game
[Yulia Latynina – Moscow Times – Dec. 5, 2012 – Yulia Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio – http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/new-rules-in-old-corruption-game/472507.html]
Yulia Latynina comments upon the shifting landscape in Russian corruption and how it is handled:
Under the old rules, a public scandal involving Serdyukov would have failed to result in his dismissal. It also would have meant that those who brought the situation into the open would have paid dearly for their escapade. The reason for this is simple: There is only one arbiter for these types of conflicts Putin, not the Russian people. Nonetheless, Serdyukov was fired, proving that it is possible to force Putin’s hand by appealing to the public.
In less than a month, four new scandals emerged. The Rostelecom offices were searched, Glonass chief designer Yury Urlichich was sacked over allegations of embezzlement, Channel One aired incriminating material about the murky activities of former Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik, and a former aide to onetime St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko was arrested in St. Petersburg on charges of laying 600 kilometers of used water pipes and billing them as new.
Note that all these scandals involve misdeeds that stretch back years into the past. …
Latynina observes that, unlike in the past, at least some corruption scandals are starting to be addressed more robustly and with greater transparency. And she notes that this shift would represent a major change in Putin’s behavior, at a time when there have been questions about his health:
The rules of the game have changed with blinding speed. Five years ago, every scandal like the current ones would have been dealt with behind closed doors. Putin would have been the only arbiter in every case, and no incriminating information would ever have been released to the public.
This is a major change in Putin’s behavior, and it is coming at a time when rumors are flying that he is experiencing health problems.
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