On March 3, Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which external management is introduced at enterprises that violate state defense orders in the event of martial law. In the Russian-occupied “LPR”, “DPR”, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, this decree has come into force right now. According to experts interviewed by The Insider, this is another tool for the seizure of property, as well as an attempt to transfer the economy to a military footing.
The fact that the main goal of the new decree, to subordinate business and the entire Russian economy to war, was stated in a conversation with The Insider by businessman Evgeny Chichvarkin :
Apparently, this decree will apply to any enterprises that have signed up for the defense order. If it's a private company that makes donuts and can't make them, external management could also be introduced there. They are preparing to transfer the economy to mobilization rails. This means that there will be no negotiations, they are preparing to line up and subordinate the entire economy to war.
I think that private property will be a big question. This is a clear sign that all this talk about negotiations and peaceful intentions can be forgotten. They are preparing for a big war and remaking the economy on a mobilization footing. This is an alarming sign, but on the other hand, the faster all this happens, the faster it will collapse.
Any contract with the state in Russia is a run through a minefield. On the surface, there is no such thing that if you have a pizzeria chain, you do not want to get involved with the state, and it is taken away from you. But if you want to warm yourself from large government orders, then you are definitely at risk. They will impose unpleasant conditions on everyone and select companies that they like.
People who dug a trench in the Novgorod region for 10 billion – and this applies to them. From this trench, you can understand that they did not fulfill the contract, and select tractors and a warehouse.
According to businessman Dmitry Potapenko , we are talking primarily about big business. He compares the current situation with banditry in the 90s, only now the state is playing the role of bandits:
The enterprise will be forced to comply with certain state requirements, and then if it seems tasty to some official, then hasta la vista. In commercial relations there is a certain arbitrator, but in relations with the state there is no such judge: ““ It’s your fault that I want to eat, ”he said and dragged the lamb into the dark forest.”
We have a feudal state ruled by lieutenant generals. There are no separate commercial structures that are not associated with it. In the 90s there were bandits and there was a state, but now it's the same thing. Before there were concepts, but now there are laws. Ideal control scheme.
If we met in the 90s and I would wring out your jacket and wallet, and you would say to me: “Dmitry Valerievich, are you crazy?”, Now I come to you with a letter from the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the tax office and say it's the same with the law, and you can't tell me anything. The garbage is all the same, only the shell has changed. You also stand without a jacket and say: “I didn’t fit in so badly.”
This is another tool to take away property or change those who stand at the feeder. Let's see how they will implement it, because there is also a reverse subtlety. Most of those whom they try to include in the execution of the defense order are also far from done with a finger and are also part of some financial and industrial groups with a power bloc. Now there are no free hunters among those who carry out defense orders. This is definitely not about small and medium-sized businesses, which the hell does not rest against anyone. It's like the famous proverb about shearing a pig – a lot of squealing, little wool. This is more or less about a big guy.
Now we are at a stage when a new opposition and a new elite in the form of order bearers are coming to the fore, and they are demanding not grandmas, but their share in power and serious property.
Ilya Shumanov , CEO of Transparency International Russia, believes that the presidential decree opens the gate to the nationalization of private business and creates a corruption niche for state raiding:
This decision further strengthens the influence of the state apparatus on the state defense order system and completely subordinates this system, which is already controlled by the state, to the state. There are certain commissions and working groups that will deal with the activities of enterprises operating under the state defense order, i.e. it will work in a transparent manner. It will make decisions that are not obvious to everyone and without taking into account the interests of the business itself. Some management company will have the authority to manage these companies, which will also be formed according to the directives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Military Industrial Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Trade are two key regulators with virtually unlimited powers. It will be impossible to appeal the decisions of this commission.
The presidential decree opens the gate to the nationalization of private businesses, because they can decapitalize, dilute the share of shareholders and, in fact, make all business decisions that can worsen the position of current owners if they are managed by a managing organization. Technically, the share can be diluted to some insignificant amount, and then the state will simply buy it out.
I do not rule out the possibility that someone will like some asset and this asset will be transferred to someone – this is such a corrupt niche for state raiding.
Even if you are in the chain, for example, you supply buttons for tunics or needles for enterprises that sew military uniforms, then you are already integrated into the state defense order system and serious responsibility is already provided for you. On the market, a large proportion of companies are now reoriented to this system and their share will grow, the state will try to increase its influence in all sectors of the economy simply because the transition to a war footing is a long process.