As a reporter in Russia in the 1990s, I covered the ways in which a handful of oligarchs made out like bandits in the post-Soviet anarchy of the times. Following a pact hatched in Davos, they intervened heavily to help secure the re-election of president Boris Yeltsin in 1996. That led to what was called the semibankirshchina — or rule of the seven bankers — until some of the oligarchs fell out among themselves and, more terminally, with Yeltsin’s successor Vladimir Putin.
在1990年代,我作为一名驻俄罗斯记者,报道了少数寡头在后苏联时代的混乱中大发横财的方式。根据在达沃斯达成的协议,他们大力干预以帮助鲍里斯•叶利钦(Boris Yeltsin)在1996年成功连任总统。这导致了所谓的“七银行家统治”——直到一些寡头之间发生内讧,更严重的是与叶利钦的继任者弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)发生冲突。