Russia is becoming intoxicated with what Illarionov called the "Venezuelan Disease" in reference to that country's unprecedented economic growth until the late 1950s when it entered a decline that continues today after the authorities nationalized the oil industry and other key sectors of economy.
Illarionov criticized the chief executive of Russia's electricity giant, Unified Energy Systems Russia, for his role in the spreading the Venezuelan germ. He said Anatoly Chubais had banned private investment in the electricity infrastructure and that these practices were now widely used in mineral resources management and other strategic areas.
The presidential advisor also compared state intervention with brain cancer. As the brain became increasingly paralyzed, he said the government was also deadening the receptors that enabled it to see where the country was heading, cracking down upon free media, opposition parties, independent lawmakers, non-government organizations and analysts - all the civil society sensors that are supposed to set alarm bells ringing when things go wrong.
The dismemberment of the Yukos oil major, the nationalization of its core production unit Yuganskneftegaz, the so-called electricity monopoly reform, and the fence against foreign ownership of Russian natural resources are all signs of a progressing case of Venezuelan Disease, Illarionov warned.
"Communism is dead. Long live Communism!" the advisor said.
