Thing I keep wondering about and haven’t read anywhere: are the newly-minted Russian billionaires Putin clones owing their position to Vladimir and funneling a portion of their ill-gotten gains back to him; protection money, so to speak?

And if so, do we think those monies go directly to Putin’s personal Swiss bank account, to the KGB to buy better umbrella tips and more mysterious poisons, or towards some internal Russian government program?

And how deep does their ownership go of whatever companies it is they are leeching off of? How easy would it be for “the State” to step in (again) and take ownership of those companies away from the noveau riche Russians?