In post-Soviet Russia's special type of cowboy capitalism, it wasn't always easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. The first generation of business leaders - known as the oligarchs - combined talent and guts with a flair for taking advantage of government connections. By being in the right place at the right time when Soviet industry was privatized in the mid-1990s, they emerged in control of the biggest companies, becoming billionaires within a few years. Managing for the long term - let alone for minority shareholders — was not a luxury many felt they could afford early on. But since Vladimir Putin was elected president in 2000, the business environment has gradually become more normal. The oligarchs whose companies are still afloat have shown that they can run businesses, not just assemble assets — or they have hired professional managers. Virtually all publicly listed companies have adopted international accounting standards, enabling investors to track once-amorphous cash flows.
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