... hopes to see in 2002. Putin seems to be facing an impossible task in changing outsider's perceptions of the new Russia and coaxing them to start operations in Russia. Under Boris Yeltsin, Putin's predecessor, the country gained a reputation as thuggish in its business dealings while trying to convert from communism into a market economy. Many of the countries industries, mining and drilling rights ... were forked over entirely to a select group of Yeltsin's connections, the oligarchs, at bargain prices. Western investors believed that Russia was nothing more than a big kleptocracy, and ...

• Word Count: 1838
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate