Russia is now run, basically, by the Russian mafia which is controlled by Putin. Corruption, therefore, is the norm. I suspect the difference is that there are different titles. I suspect, however, their economy is more efficient. An example of that one is that in the Soviet Union they actually had one boot factory making only one size of boots. Oh, an interesting fact - the Russian army boot are actually rubber boots! (can you imagine the smells in their barracks?) I was only there for a couple of days. Spent a longer time, a few years ago when we took the trans Siberian from Beijing to Moscow. At the time there was a bit of turmoil and a LOT of elderly begging on the streets. I am not, incidentally, a regular traveler, or an expert, to Russia.
