More trouble for Putin’s former aide Chubais

Russian law enforcement agencies have stepped up their targeting of Rusnano, a state company that invested in promising tech projects. For the first time, Anatoly Chubais, one of the architects of Moscow’s 1990s economic reforms and long-time Rusnano chief, is himself coming under direct threat. Until recently, Chubais – who left Russia at the start of the invasion – was seen as untouchable. 

• A Moscow court seized property worth 5.6 billion rubles (about $67 million) belonging to Chubais and seven of his subordinates in a case relating to a company called Plastic Logic and the planned production of flexible tablets back in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Rusnano’s new management claims that the project, which was even presented toVladimir Putin, never achieved its goals. The tablets, which allegedly had no equivalent anywhere in the world, were intended to be supplied to schools, but the manufacturing plant in Russia was never built and the funds invested in the project ended up with foreign companies, Rusnano now claims.
• Rusnano’s problems started in 2022 when the corporation's new head asked the prosecutor general’s office to open a probe into the corporation’s activity under Chubais’ leadership, between 2010 and 2020. As a result of the investigation, Plastic Logic’s boss is under arrest along with two former senior managers from Rusnano. As well as the tablet case, authorities are also investigating the theft of $50 million from a Luxembourg-based subsidiary.
• Chubais himself, who served as the Russian President’s special representative for relations with international organizations on sustainable development, quit his positions and left Russia a few weeks after Moscow invaded Ukraine. According to media reports, he was said to be motivated by his opposition to the invasion, though he has not publicly condemned it. Last year he opened a think tank in Israel dedicated to the study of Russia’s post-Soviet history (read more about that here). 
• The seizure of Chubais’ property is the first “punishment” he has faced. Rusnano received 405 billion rubles (about $4.8 billion) in state support, but in the end its losses were greater than its income. Chubais is not on Russia’s wanted list and there has been no public confirmation of any criminal case opened against him. However, it is clear he faces problems. Putin himself said in 2023 that Chubais might have left Russia due to the risk of facing a criminal investigation.  

Why the world should care

Corporate executives have been jailed for a lot less than Chubais’s failings at Rusnano. But not all of them had personal access to Putin and a long relationship with him dating back to the 1990s. This seizure of property might be a signal that it would be better for Chubais not to consider returning to Russia.