Hostile Enterprise Takeovers: Russia's Economy in 1998–2002

Abstract

AbstractThe period following the change of presidency in Russia in 1999–2000 featured multiple corporate confl icts and enterprise takeovers. This resulted in the largest redistribution of major assets of the Russian economy after the 1993–1994 privatization. This redistribution was exercised through extensive use of bankruptcy law enforced by state coercive organizations in the interests of powerful corporate raiders and privileged business groups. This article examines the origins, logic, methods, and outcomes of enterprise takeovers in Putin's Russia. It focuses on the uses of legislation and its selective enforcement by the state, which—to date—remains one of the major complications of the transitional period.