Corporate Governance In Russia

Given the past decade of abuse of shareholder rights, corporate governance is essential for Russia's future. In this comprehensive volume, an international group of contributors - academics, corporate executives, government officials, policymakers, specialists from nongovernmental organizations, and legal experts - examine the crucial role of corporate governance as well as the external institutions and forces that affect it. Offering coverage from numerous perspectives, the contributors explore external and institutional influences on corporate governance, its workings within corporations, and the relationships between boards of directors, managers, shareholders, and the government. Case studies of three major companies illustrate the challenges and opportunities involved in creating sound practices. The concluding section provides a summary of the current situation and discusses implications for the future of Russia's corporate governance. A valuable source of information, Corporate Governance in Russia is a must-read for business people, government officials, academic researchers, students, and all those interested in Russia and what the future holds.

This book explores discussions and practice around corporate governance in Russia from the early 1990s until 2018. It covers three major aspects of corporate governance theory and practice: a vision of corporate governance in Russia in the context of global trends and challenges, the general perception of corporate governance in Russia, and the real nature of Russia’s corporate community from the viewpoint of its corporate governance practices. It provides a unique complex analysis and detailed description of how corporate governance has been perceived by both Russian regulators and the business community, and how it has been applied in Russian companies. This analysis covers the period of over 25 years: from early attempts at directing transfer and implanting the Western model of corporate governance to the nascent Russian big private business, up to the period of resurgence of the state as the dominant player both in Russian society and its economy at large. It gives an understanding of what corporate governance is in Russia in the days of "sovereign democracy" and confrontation with the West. It explains how cultural, political, economic and institutional factors have shaped corporate governance in Russia. The authors provide insights into such aspects of Russian corporate governance framework and practices as regulatory philosophy and enforcement, ownership structure, the role of the state, the impact of unfriendly domestic business climate, how the value of corporate governance is perceived in Russian context, etc. Predominantly, the book paints an interesting picture of how the "sovereign corporate governance" model has been shaped in Russia. This book will be useful not just for experts in corporate governance and investors, but also for those who have an interest in modern Russia at large.

This book examines corporate governance through a holistic lens that integrates financial, social and environmental goals, e.g. increasing transparency and disclosure. In addition, it investigates the theoretical assumptions guiding the current corporate governance practices adopted by companies in Central Europe and Russia. The book presents a dynamic study on the evolution of corporate governance systems, which were practically non-existent just 30 years ago. In turn, it addresses criticism leveled at corporate governance, its impact on the outbreak of the financial crisis, and recommendations for changes after the crisis. The book employs a regional focus, exploring a group of countries that have often been neglected in corporate governance research. Carefully selected data and a variety of case studies prepared by leading authors from the region provide evidence to support the analysis.

This book examines the development of big business in Russia since the onset of market oriented reform in the early 1990s. It explains how privatized post-Soviet enterprises, many of which made little sense as business units, were transformed into functional firms able to operate in the environment of a market economy. It provides detailed case studies of three key companies – Yukos Oil Company, Siberian (Russian) Aluminium and Norilsk Nickel – all of which played a key role in Russia’s economic recovery after 1998, describing how these companies were created, run and have developed. It shows how Russian businesses during the 1990s routinely relied on practices not entirely compatible with formal rules, in particular in the area of corporate governance. The book fully explores the critical role played by informal corporate governance practices - such as share dilution, transfer pricing, asset stripping, limiting shareholders access to votes, and 'bankruptcy to order’ - as Russian big business developed during the 1990s. Unlike other studies on Russian corporate governance, this book highlights the ambiguous impact of informal corporate governance practices on the companies involved as commercial entities, and suggests that although their use proved costly to Russia’s business reputation, they helped core groups of owners/managers at the time to establish coherent business firms. Overall, the book shows that we cannot understand the nature of current economic changes in Russia without recognising the crucial role played by informal corporate governance practices in the creation and development of big business in post-Soviet Russia.

This book is designed to scrutinize the Russian business sector in transition with special attention to firm organization, business integration, corporate governance, and company management. Using a unique dataset of Russian joint-stock companies, the authors empirically analyze key issues for understanding the Russian corporate sector.