#2 - JRL 7302
Russians see big business, organised crime in
charge: poll
August 26, 2003
AFP
A majority of Russians believe that their country is run either by big business or organised crime, according to an opinion poll published Tuesday.
More than one in three (37 percent) believe that a handful of top companies and "oligarchs" -- the businessmen who accumulated massive fortunes by dubious means during the 1990s -- control Russia, the Agency of Regional Political Studies found, the Interfax news agency reported.
A further 19 percent considered that "organised criminal groups" run the country, the poll found.
Just 15 percent believed that President Vladimir Putin ran the country, with 12 percent believing bureaucrats to be in charge, five percent local government officials, four percent the State Duma lower house of parliament and two percent regional leaders.
The better educated respondents saw big business as being in charge, while Communist supporters were more inclined to see "government officials and bureaucrats" as holding the reins.
The view that organised crime ran the show was most prevalent in the Urals district, while the vision of an all-powerful business elite prevailed most strongly in southern Russia.
The poll was carried out in 32 Russian regions and involved 1,500 respondents, Interfax said.
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