The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, publicly opposed the merger of Wildberries (one of Russia’s largest e-commerce platforms) and the large outdoor advertising operator RUSS Group. Kadyrov recorded a video with Vladislav Bakalchuk, the husband of Wildberries founder Tatiana Bakalchuk, in which he referred to Vladislav as a «friend» while the latter complained that his wife «left home» after «getting involved with some strange company that’s taking over the business under the guise of a merger.» Kadyrov responded by calling the owners of the RUSS group, the Mirzoyanov brothers, and certain «well-known Caucasians» «devils,» saying that they should «return the assets» and that his «guys will solve the problem.» The «well-known Caucasians» that the Chechen leader talked about are most certainly Senator Suleiman Kerimov: the Russian media had previously reported that Kerimov was pulling the strings at the RUSS Group. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin was «aware of the deal» to merge the companies but had not interfered.
Kadyrov’s intervention in the affairs of companies loyal to the state is a serious political development. First, in a matter of minutes, the Chechen leader smashed the myth that the Putin era had allegedly freed Russia from the lawlessness of the violent 1990s. One of the main manifestations of that lawlessness were criminal gangs, often organized along ethnic lines, that engaged in robbery and thuggery. Not infruquently, these groups were informally protected or patronized by influential officials and law enforcement agencies. However, even in the 1990s, these officials and law enforcers did not go public with promises to send «their guys to solve the problems» with their «business» competitors or the business rivals of their «clients.» Kadyrov’s demarche shows the citizens that the bad times have not gone away, they have just been lying dormant, skillfully hidden behind the facade of Putin’s legality, but now they are showing their teeth again. The sense of security and Putin’s stability is crumbling. This effect is compounded by the fame and popularity of Wildberries: unlike Yandex with its delivery and taxi services, which catered mostly to the urban middle class, Wildberries, the country’s e-commerce giant, has long been a household name not only in big cities but also in poorer, remote provinces.
Kadyrov’s public appearance as a «fixer» also exacerbates the ethnic issue. A section of Russian society is critical and aggressive toward migrant workers and residents of the Russian Caucasian republics, who are also often labeled «migrants». Once again, the statements made by the Chechen leader confirm all the usual stereotypes about these «dangerous Caucasians,» which the Kremlin counters with rather impotent statements about the «friendship and unity» of the peoples of the Russian Federation.
Kadyrov is trying to destroy the foundations of the internal structure of the power vertical. For a long time now, the state has been trying to control every large business in the country. As soon as a business grows to a certain size, it immediately attracts the attention of the authorities. It is not a matter of outright nationalization: the company could be forced to appoint former officials or law enforcement officers to key management positions, or sell a stake in the company to a person or business linked to the state (which is exactly what happened with Wildberries). The founder of the company loses some of his independence and assets, but gets a guarantee from the Kremlin, or in the language of the 1990s, «a roof» — «krysha» in Russian, or «protection racket.» And this «roof» provided real guarantees of security against interference by law enforcement officials, and even more so by criminals. As a rule, Putin himself acted as the guarantor of such deals. Now it turns out that there are those who want to question the terms of such agreements, which means that the «roof» provided by the Kremlin is full of holes and does not hold water, so to speak.
This situation is aggravated by the fact that Kadyrov is acting only in his personal interests, testing the participants in the deal with Tatiana Bakalchuk and the Kremlin to see if they dare to challenge him. The head of Chechnya clearly believes that he is risking little, while the gain could be enormous. This means that the time of the monolithic vertical is over, and the personal interests of individual players are beginning to play a decisive role in the struggle for assets.
The preacher’s sermon
A clergyman close to Vladimir Putin, Metropolitan Tikhon Shevkunov of Crimea, spoke out in support of the former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov who had been arrested in April on charges of accepting a bribe «in the form of services» valued at more than 1 billion rubles ($ 12.2 million). Tikhon said he was praying for Ivanov and wished him a speedy end to his «misadventures». The metropolitan’s public statement is similar to those made by Ramzan Kadyrov. The system seems to have decided that Timur Ivanov should be punished and blamed for all the embezzlement in the Defense Ministry. However, Metropolitan Tikhon expresses an alternative point of view. He is not afraid to speak out in support of his friend, and it is likely that the cleric’s words will have an effect. The clergyman has direct access to Putin, he is well acquainted with influential siloviki (mainly representatives of the Federal Security Services), heads of state corporations and other representatives of the Russian elite. The Metropolitan’s intercession could really help. Timur Ivanov (and, more broadly, Sergey Shoigu’s clan as a whole) is taking advantage of this opportunity. Tikhon acts as a person who can «fix» or «solve» the problem, or at least try to solve it, going against the mainstream party line. The statements of such an influential figure raise the question of the existence of this mainstream party line, or whether there are now several such lines or tendencies within the system.
Touting the State Council
Putin has carried out partial rotations of the State Council members and also partially changed its internal structure by creating several new commissions. Russian governors are members of the State Council, and they also head its commissions. The most prominent regional heads, such as Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Moscow Region head Andrei Vorobyev, retained their posts. Shortly afterward, Alexey Dyumin, the new secretary of the Council and Putin’s aide, held a meeting with the new heads of commissions. At the same time, Dyumin’s media support group tried to turn these changes and the meeting itself into an important political event. Telegram channels, through which Russian elite groups send signals to each other and to the politicized part of society, began to publish posts about the strengthening of the role of the State Council in shaping national projects and the growing role of governors and their «patron» Alexey Dyumin. In reality, the State Council has not yet received any new powers: its commissions have been working before, and they are often headed by the same people.
The constant demonstration of the allegedly growing influence of the State Council benefits Dyumin and the groups that back him. It is possible that he will indeed be given new powers, but so far this has not happened. However, with the emergence of new «fixers», parallel structures of influence and multiple party lines, such touting of the mythical role of the State Council may work. If Kadyrov and Metropolitan Tikhon can «fix issues,» why can’t the presidential aide and secretary of the State Council fix them, too? In this sense, the PR campaign of the Council and its secretary looks quite clever: the earlier a particular political figure gets on the list of «informal fixers,» the more opportunities he or she has to gain a foothold in it. Dyumin comes to a market that has not yet been formed and, thus, he can easily become one of its main players, who will set the new rules. How long this market will function is an open question. Its participants enjoy influence precisely because of their status in the power vertical, while destroying it at the same time.
