Coronavirus Tightens Putin`s Economic Grip
(WorldNews Business)

By Clara Ferreira Marques (Bloomberg Opinion) — Vladimir Putin has steadily expanded the Russian state’s involvement in an economy that’s increasingly dominated by large companies. The coronavirus crisis, with its lopsided financial assistance that benefits big employers more than entrepreneurs, looks set to continue this process. In the short term, this will strengthen the hand of a vulnerable president. Over the longer term, it spells stagnation. Governments almost everywhere have had to intervene in their industries over the past few months as they scramble to contain the fallout from Covid-19, bailing out airlines, carmakers and more. Moscow,...