Russians see heads of state behemoths as most successful top managers

Russians see heads of state behemoths as most successful top managers
Russians believes that country's most successful top managers are the heads of state owned companies
By bne IntelliNews September 26, 2018

Russians believes that country's most successful top managers are Alexei Miller of state gas giant Gazprom (10% of the respondents), the head of country's largest lender state-controlled Sberbank German Gref (6%), and the head of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft influential Kremlin insider Igor Sechin (5%), a poll by VTSIOM pollster shows.

The head of Sberbank and ex-Finance Minister Gref is indeed widely seen as one of the most accomplished Russian CEOs, responsible for making the bank country's most valuable company in the country and being ahead of the curve with digitally driven development strategy.

However, Gazprom's Miller and Rosneft's Sechin making it to the top 3 of shows that regular Russians perceive business success as management of huge state-owned enterprises (SEOs) with almost unrestricted resources and political influence.

At the same time 68% of the respondents could not name a successful top manager, also showing low awareness of business and economics in the general population. While 94% of the respondents have heard the word "top manager", 50% do now know what it means. Notably, 33% of the respondents are convinced that one can only become a top manger in Russia thanks to connections. 

Most recently the head of Russia's Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) Igor Artemyev complained on intensifying fusion between the state and large business in an interview to Kommersant daily. The Russian economy remains “retarded” and “quasi-feudal,” especially in less developed region, he said, adding that the influence of the state in the economy has only strengthened under Western sanctions.

 

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