While to the outside world the Kremlin presents a united front, especially in its stand-off with the West, in reality it is divided with Putin often having to act as umpire in contests between different factions.
On one side of the economic argument is a loose coalition of pro-market liberals who say if robust growth is to return, the Kremlin must slash government spending, break up monopolies, and dilute state control over giant corporations.
In the other camp are the people who control those corporations, many of them with state security backgrounds, who have been close to Putin for decades, who say relinquishing the state's control is the path to chaos. [...]
Putin's apparent inability to choose decisively between the camps occasionally produces mixed signals or sudden policy reversals. In one example earlier this year, the government announced that all state-owned companies would be required to contribute more to state coffers by paying at least 50 percent of their profits in dividends.
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