Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin grew up poor in war-ravaged Leningrad, a city that lost
800,000 people at the hands of a relentless Nazi siege.
It was a tough life for a boy living in a multi-family apartment co-op where chasing
rats was a favorite pastime, and he became angry and constantly got into fights.
In the sixth grade he found an outlet for his aggression in Sambo, a Russian martial
art.
He also had dreams of becoming a spy, a hope that was realized when he eventually joined
the KGB, which--in those days--was the world's largest spy organization.
Putin was assigned to Dresden, Germany in 1985 to gather intelligence on the West.
This time in East Germany was spent recruiting agents and slowly climbing the KGB’s ladders.
He also developed a love for material objects -- like stereos -- which he would get smuggled
to him from the Westerners he was in contact with.
At the same time, more broadly, the USSR -- a big oil exporter -- was making billions from
its energy sales abroad.
The KGB was entrusted with the task of managing and reinvesting all the money.
So when the Soviet Union was in its final days, high level KGB officers took advantage
of their positions of access to hide these billions in banks and other investment sources
all over the world where only they could find, and have access to, the funds.
And then, when the Soviet Union was completely dissolved, they turned around and stole a
lot of this money to make themselves incredibly rich.
Although it’s unclear exactly how involved Putin was in this theft, it does reveal the
morally bankrupt culture that dominated the upper echelons of the KGB at a time when Putin
was rising within its ranks.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Putin returned to his home city, Leningrad, now
called St. Petersburg, where he became deputy mayor in charge of all foreign economic relations,
a linchpin at a time when that economic window was finally opening.
This sudden embrace of capitalism in Russia allowed for a Wild Wild West-like culture
to take root throughout the country where criminal organizations thrived and a tribute
system built on widespread bribery was established.
According to the book Putin’s Kleptocracy {pg 39}, “Putin’s St. Petersberg days
underline this style of work, building overlapping networks of people in which he is at the center,
relying on them to promote privatization while supporting the state, and assisting each other
in personal gain.
Putin occupied one position after another that regulated and controlled the privatization
process, becoming indispensable in legalizing what otherwise would have been illicit activities.”
It was in St. Petersberg where Putin learned, and honed, the art of robbing the government
under the cover of investing on behalf of the government.
The list of his shady involvements is long, but the highlights are: seizing control of
the legalized casino gambling industry, controlling the city’s food delivery system, and the
founding of the Petersberg Fuel Company (which was where he likely developed the skills he
would later use to control Russia’s all-important energy sector).
During this time Putin also founded Bank Rossiya and used it -- and a Real Estate Holding Company
-- to launder the large amounts of money he and his partners were skimming off of each
transaction for themselves.
His thefts were so brazen that the St. Petersberg legislature censured him, recommending that
he be removed from office and criminally prosecuted.
But Putin’s boss, Mayor Sobchak, did the opposite thing and promoted him.
When Mayor Sobchak lost reelection in 1996, Putin came to Moscow, where his ascension
rapidly accelerated.
He took a job in the Presidential administration, where he was responsible for organizing the
transfer of all the former foreign assets of the Soviet Union and Communist Party to
the newly formed Russian Federation.
His work obviously impressed President Yeltsin, and after less than a year, he became deputy
head of the Presidential administration and -- simultaneously -- head of the GKU, the
office responsible for, according to “Putin’s Kleptocracy,” [quote pg 174] “overseeing
the implementation of federal laws, executive orders, and presidential instructions.”
During this period he learned how to use the power of the Executive branch to cover up
illegal activity and scandals.
This included helping his old boss, Mayor Sobchak escape the country when Sobchak became
the target of a criminal investigation.
After a year in this powerful post, President Yeltsin promoted Putin again, giving him responsibility
over the regions of Russia, a position he used to reassert central governmental control.
According to Putin’s own biography, [quote, pg 181-182] “‘To this day I think that
was the most interesting job.
I developed relationships with many of the governors at that time.
It was clear to me that work with the regional leaders was one of the most important lines
of work in the country.
Everyone was saying that the vertikal, the vertical chain of government, had been destroyed
and that it had to be restored.’
He conceded that not all the governors agreed with this approach, but ‘you can’t please
everybody.’”
Putin then became head of the Federal Security Service, the main security agency of Russia
and the successor agency to his beloved KGB.
Think of the FSB as the FBI, NSA, Border Patrol, Coast Guard, and DEA combined.
This incredibly powerful job was the culmination of his decade-long education in the various
levels -- and -- levers of governmental power.
Putin had developed almost every possible skill someone would need to rule Russia, and
when he was made Prime Minister in 1999, his education was complete--he now knew how to
control the Parliament who made the Federation’s laws.
Thanks for watching part 2 of our mini-documentary, Putin’s Russia.
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