Comments on: The firing of Anatoly Serdyukov

By: Is this the move against corruption Russia has been waiting for? | Up to the hour news

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:41:11 +0000

[...] week Putin dismissed Defence Minister Serdyukov (that’s an office pretty near his) andsome think that there is a connection and there is a hint in Putin’s words that there is (although, naturally, there are plenty of [...]

By: Thursday Morning Linkage – US Election-Free Edition » Duck of Minerva

Thursday Morning Linkage – US Election-Free Edition » Duck of Minerva — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 14:43:14 +0000

[...] Kremlin fires its Defense Minister. Dmitry Gorenburg provides context at the Russian Military Reform [...]

By: Dmitry Gorenburg

Dmitry Gorenburg — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:47:06 +0000

A reply from Ray Finch, who couldn’t post this directly for some reason:

Dmitry, Hi and thanks for the thoughtful reply. Yes, like you, I’m merely speaking from conjecture with no firm evidence on the allegations of corruption. I did listen to Komsomolskaya Pravda’s radio show ‘Tema Dnya’ yesterday, just after the news of Serdyukov’s dismissal was announced. http://www.kp.ru/radio/program/4712/ During the call-in portion of the show, some listeners expressed doubts over Shoigu’s sanctity and voiced similar concerns about corruption within the MChS.

Regarding corruption in the MoD under Serdyukov, again, I have nothing but hearsay. One of Serdyukov’s more vociferous critics (V. Baranetz), claims that corruption has indeed increased significantly under Serdyukov’s leadership. Baranetz may be something of a mouthpiece for those disgruntled senior officers who have been removed from their once lucrative positions, but his blog (http://blog.kp.ru/users/2125404/) has consistently cataloged an ever-steady stream of criminal activities within the MoD.

By: Dmitry Gorenburg

Dmitry Gorenburg — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:37:20 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Ray. I have no evidence one way or another on Shoigu’s level of corruption. That’s why I said “has the reputation,” but I don’t think I made that distinction clear enough. Whether or not he is corrupt, he did do a great job setting up and running Emercom. During his tenure, it became pretty much the only federal government agency that people actually trusted. So he could potentially be effective at running the MOD even if he steals or allows stealing. This was (to my mind) certainly the situation under Serdyukov. (I know many have a much less favorable view of Serdyukov, but whatever you might think of his methods,he accomplished a lot.)

On your second point, I do think the reform was partially launched to remove corruption. And my (admittedly anecdotal) sense is that there is somewhat less corruption now than there was when Serdyukov came in. I don’t think anyone expected him to eliminate corruption, just to reduce it somewhat and (partially) redirect the flows away from the generals. I would argue that he succeeded at both tasks. But of course, you’re right in that he was part of a corrupt system and fully participated in that corruption, making it impossible to truly root it out…

By: Ray C. Finch III

Ray C. Finch III — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:07:49 +0000

Nice post, but I have to take exception with a couple of your premises. First, I don’t think that Shoigu is quite the impeccable savior some in the Russian media have made him out to be. The notion that you can create and run an honest and open department within a sea of corruption is naïve and rather ludicrous. My guess is that the authorities have a couple of suitcases of kompromat on Shoigu that they will unpack should the need arise.

Similarly, you appear to believe that that this reform effort was partially launched to remove corruption from within the MoD. This may be true, but again, is it possible for an inherently corrupt system to develop and restructure its military without infecting it with this same sleaze? The fish truly does rot from the head.