Democracy, Civic Culture and Small Business in Russia's Regions

Labor under Putin

“…Molly O'Neal, author of Democracy, Civic Culture and Small Business in Russia's Regions, notes: "AvtoVaz represented in 2007 nearly 40 percent of the region's [Samara] industrial output and a large share of the region's tax revenue." 16 Even more telling is that "around 34,000 employees still lived in AvtoVaz housing and enjoyed at least some company-provided social services as of late 2010, but this was a sharp decline from the 115,000 people AvtoVaz once employed." 17 The experience of AvtoVAZ reflects what occurred across Russia: Managers and workers struggled to keep enterprises operating as best they could, and to defend their (sometimes competing) interests in the process.…”