Vladimir Putin is having HR problems. His defense minister disappeared, apparently with a “heart condition.” Anatoly Chubais, Putin’s “climate envoy,” has resigned and left the country for Turkey. As a former chief of staff under Boris Yeltsin, it was Chubais who recommended Putin for his first Kremlin position in 1997. Putin then replaced Yeltsin in 2000.
Then there is the case of Elvira Nabiullina, governor of Russia’s Central Bank. She tried to resign after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and as Russia’s economy cratered. But she was told by him that her departure would be viewed as a betrayal. Putin had her sworn into office for a new five-year term last week.
Some others at the bank have been allowed to leave. Bloomberg reports that, “At one point, the pace of departures was intense enough that the IT department was short of hands to terminate accounts. Arrows plastered along passageways steered employees through the final bureaucracy on their way out.”
Putin’s government has become a version of that old song, “Hotel California.” You can check in, but you may not be able to check out.