Leonid Bershidsky, Columnist

Shuvalov Tests Russia's Corruption Laws: Leonid Bershidsky

April 4, 2012 at 3:41 PM UTC

Leonid Bershidsky, formerly Bloomberg Opinion’s Europe columnist, is a member of the Bloomberg News Automation Team. He recently published Russian translations of George Orwell’s “1984” and Franz Kafka’s “The Trial.”

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A top government official reaps millions in profits with the help of the nation's wealthiest businessmen. That definitely sounds illegal. So when the international media last week reported such dealings by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, one might have expected a public outcry.

In Russia, however, things are much more complicated. Plenty of commentators, including President-elect Vladimir Putin's spokesman, have defended Shuvalov, and it appears that he truly has not broken any Russian laws, such as they are.