The Scotsman
AN OUTSPOKEN economic adviser to the Russian president Vladimir Putin has quit, saying he could no longer work in a government that had done away with political freedoms.
Andrei Illarionov said that political freedom in Russia has steadily declined and that government-controlled corporations have stifled competition and ignored public interests.
"It is one thing to work in a partly free country, which Russia was six years ago. It is quite another when the country has ceased to be politically free."
Mr Illarionov, who has also criticised what he says is a return to inefficient state control of the economy, complained that he was no longer able to speak his mind. "I considered it important to remain here at this post as long as I had the possibility to do something, including speaking out."
Yevgeny Ikhlov, who leads the group For Human Rights, described Mr Illarionov as "the last liberal in the government" who dared to expose the authorities' crackdown on political freedoms.
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