Andrei Illarionov Quotations

It is one thing to work in a partially free country such as Russia was six years ago. But it is quite another when the country has ceased to be politically free.

Energy weapons are being used against neighbors. The move toward a policy of imperialism ... has a clear and high price that will eventually be paid by the citizens of a nation that embarks on the imperialist path.

The conflict has shown that Russia's energy trade is politically motivated.

Neo-imperialist trends in foreign policy have strengthened, and energy has been used as a weapon to achieve those goals.

Alexander Nikolayevich was a defender ? a defender of our country, of democracy, of freedom of people ? of specific people ? and all of us.

When I took the job, we spoke about pursuing a liberal economic policy. Now, the state has evolved in quite the opposite direction.

This is a state model with the participation of state corporations, which although they are public in name and status, are managed above all for their own personal interests.

These quasi-state corporations are in fact driven by private interests while taking advantage of their state status and privileges. The state has come to serve the interests of several corporations instead of the majority of citizens.

The state can be inept, irrational and pursue strange interests, but those interests were always seen as in the national interest. What I could not foresee was that state interests could evolve into corporate and private interests to such an extent.

This year, Russia has become a different country. It is no longer a democratic country. It is no longer a free country.