After his electoral loss in 1996, Sobchak... charged... with corruption... had to flee the country... widely reported as masterminded by Putin. ...[G… - Karen Dawisha

This group was seeking also to help themselves. They were a group of trained officers, very interested in economic liberalism, but with political control, and primarily liberalism for them[selves].

What we know about this episode... It's there in the written source material. We just need to do the work of... bringing it to light. ...[T]he book is dedicated to free Russian journalism because it was Russian journalists who followed this story, first and foremost! ...[T]hey wrote this story when there was free journalism. They covered it extensively. They were on Putin's tale from the very beginning. They couldn't write this now, but they were writing it in the 1990s.

[R]eports allege that after Putin became president, Tsepov continued... running... the ’s tribute system... "administrative resources"... provided to those who paid the largest tribute... Once... accepted... payments from... public funds were disbursed for the campaign. ...[G]overnors were chosen who responded to central interests irrespective "of ...promoting the welfare of the inhabitants of the region." ...Russkiy Kur’er wrote that ...a price list for promotion to governor ...included charges of $3 million to $5 million ...