User:Nanobear~enwiki/National champions

National champions is a political concept in which large corporations are expected not only to seek profit but also to "advange the interests of the nation." It was a central idea in the policies of former Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Origins
The concept was introduced by Putin in his 1997 dissertation "Strategic Planning of the Reproduction of the Resource Bases." Putin, in turn, may have gotten the idea from a texbook by University of Pittsburgh analysts William King and David Cleland. Putin later expanded on the subject in an article published in 1999 in the Journal of the St. Petersburg Mining Institute.

Charles de Gaulle had also advocated similar ideas when he was the president of France in the 1950s.

Vertical integration
In his dissertation, Putin wrote: The process of restructuring the national economy must have the goal of creating the most effective and competetive companies on both the domestic and world markets."

Putin's 1999 article proposes that the state should closely regulate and develop the natural resources sector through creating companies with close links to the power vertical, making the firms big enough to compete with multinationals. These companies would become “national champions,” representing the state’s interest in international commerce.

Most national champions are likely to be 50% or more owned by the Russian government, but there is no reason why predominantly private companies could not also serve as national champions, given the right guidance and pressure.

Advancing national interests
Instead of allowing the country's oligarch-controlled corporations to focus exclusively on making profit, Putin proposed that they should be used instead to advance the country's national interests. Russia should reclaim some of the assets that were so carelessly privatized during Yeltsin, and integrate them vertically into industrial conglomerates so they could compete better with Western multinational corporations.

"Regardless of who is the legal owner of the country's natural resources and in particular the mineral resources, the state has the right to regulate the process of their development and use. The state should act in the interests of society as a whole and of individual property owners, when their interests come into conflict with each other and when they need the help of state organs of power to reach compromises when their interests conflict."

- Vladimir Putin

On example of the concept is that energy corporations such as Gazprom should keep the prices inside Russia low, as a form of subsidy for the public, and only strive for maximal profit in foreign countries.

Examples of Russia's national champions

 * Gazprom
 * Rosneft
 * United Aircraft Corporation