Season 1
3 episodes · 2025
This investigation behind the scenes of Russian power tells the story of the rise, fall and rebirth of the oligarchs who seized control of the hydrocarbons before falling under the yoke of the new master of the Kremlin. From the fall of the USSR to the war in Ukraine, Jérôme Fritel and Marc Roche (Les gangsters de la finance, Goldman Sachs – La banque qui dirigeant le monde) decipher a relentless system serving the expansionist ambitions of Vladimir Putin, the oligarch in chief. The colossal financial windfall that black gold provided to his clan allowed him to satisfy his great ambition: to infiltrate and enslave a blind and complacent West to restore the greatness of Russia.
1Oil Grab
After the fall of the USSR, the transition to a market economy opened the doors of glory to unknown entrepreneurs. Taking advantage of President Boris Yeltsin's vast privatization program, the so-called "seven bankers", under the leadership of the "godfather of the Kremlin" Boris Berezovsky, threw themselves into Russian capital.
2The conquest of the West
Second part: Invested president on May 7, 2000, Putin launches hostilities between his close guard and the historical oligarchs. He gathers the latter in Stalin's dacha to send them a message: rally or disgrace.
3In the service of war.finale
The construction of a second gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, should allow Germany to double its imports. But during the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the West did an about-face. The United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions against Russian businessmen, banks and companies. Putin nevertheless managed to circumvent these measures. Having become pariahs in the West, the oligarchs were forced to return to Russia to be closer to the master of the Kremlin.