According to the source, Putin’s statements were double-edged. Some of these promises would make businessmen relax and believe in stability to follow, but the next phrase would almost make them run to buy a ticket aboard. First, Putin stressed there would be no reconsideration of privatization results but then added that this would concern only those who observed the law, and criminal cases would be filed against all those who violated the law during privatization in the 90s. The president opposed a stance that it was impossible to observe the law during privatization. “We often hear that laws were complicated and impossible to comply with. These are the statements of those who did not observe them. This is rubbish. Those who wanted to, did observe the law.”

Putin believes that the upcoming repressions will not be large-scale. “If five or seven people did not observe the law it does not mean that everybody did the same,” Putin noted stressing there would be no campaign against those who violated laws.

The following speech of Yevgeny Primakov, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, demonstrated that he supported these policies. He argued against calling all large businessmen “oligarchs.” “This is insulting and dangerous,” Primakov was quoted as saying. “An oligarch means not just a large businessman but an entrepreneur who made his fortune via schemes, including tax schemes.”

Putin and Primakov agreed it was necessary to tax the excess profit of oil companies. The president reported the government was engaged in taking necessary measures right now and it was going to use both export duties and taxes on the extraction of natural resources.