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SignOnSanDiego.com > News > World -- Russia's oligarchs fall to Earth, state power grows (783 words) |
 | MOSCOW – In their heyday Russia's oligarchs, a group of brash quick-witted young entrepreneurs who became billionaires overnight in the 1990s by acquiring state companies for a song, had the power to make or break governments. |
| But the once-mighty oligarchs have been vanquished by President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to storm to a second-term win in presidential elections this month. |
| In 1996 the oligarchs bankrolled Boris Yeltsin's victorious presidential campaign against a resurgent communist movement, and in the dying days of Yeltsin's rule were widely seen to be the dominant power in the land. |
| Business oligarch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (688 words) |
| As Yeltsin's power weakened, oligarchs became increasingly influential in politics and played a significant role in financing the re-election of Yeltsin in 1996. |
| The 1998 financial crisis hit the oligarchs hard, however, and those whose holdings were based on banking lost much of their fortunes. |
| In the Putin era, the remaining oligarchs have come under fire for various alleged and real illegal activities, particularly the underpayment of taxes in the businesses they acquired. |
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