I left the country right when it fell apart so I'm not exactly an expert on the current events, but from what I see doesn't seem like 20 years have made any difference.
I think you can trace this whole mess to Brezhnev's Zastoy(Stagnation) period of Soviet history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brezhnev_stagnation). The upper echelons of government achieved a comfortable and stable enough level of life and pretty much froze the rest of society in time, in order to support their lifestyle. They cracked down on any dissension or change from the status quo which by definition means that they cracked down on the most entrepreneurial and dynamic members of society. They jailed the makers and made the thieves rulers.
And unfortunately you can keep this charade going for a while; in the 70's-80's you can steal technology from the West; in the 90's you can sell minerals and in the 2000s you can wait for your people to invent something and then steal it from them. When the Soviet Union fell down there was a glimmer of hope but it was silly to think anything would change. You have now 2-3 generations of people at the highest levels of power who grew up with this mentality and it's not going to change any time soon.
It's sad, I remember watching a talk show on a Russian satellite station where the discussion was whether Russia needed an "innovation economy" or whether pumping and mining is perfectly fine. An obviously liberal member of the panel was pleading and cajoling with the others that oil and timber don't last forever and they only enrich a few people. The other side, a representative of a mining concern, had an awesome reply: "They'll last long enough for me"
I think you can trace this whole mess to Brezhnev's Zastoy(Stagnation) period of Soviet history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brezhnev_stagnation). The upper echelons of government achieved a comfortable and stable enough level of life and pretty much froze the rest of society in time, in order to support their lifestyle. They cracked down on any dissension or change from the status quo which by definition means that they cracked down on the most entrepreneurial and dynamic members of society. They jailed the makers and made the thieves rulers.
And unfortunately you can keep this charade going for a while; in the 70's-80's you can steal technology from the West; in the 90's you can sell minerals and in the 2000s you can wait for your people to invent something and then steal it from them. When the Soviet Union fell down there was a glimmer of hope but it was silly to think anything would change. You have now 2-3 generations of people at the highest levels of power who grew up with this mentality and it's not going to change any time soon.
It's sad, I remember watching a talk show on a Russian satellite station where the discussion was whether Russia needed an "innovation economy" or whether pumping and mining is perfectly fine. An obviously liberal member of the panel was pleading and cajoling with the others that oil and timber don't last forever and they only enrich a few people. The other side, a representative of a mining concern, had an awesome reply: "They'll last long enough for me"
...and to hell with the rest of you