According to Aristotle, oligarchy refers to the concentration of supreme power in the hands of a few. However, oligarchs usually obtained the leadership role due to their wealth rather than their eminence. The first written evidence of this autocratic political system appeared around 411 BC in the masterpieces of ancient Greece, when a small group of influential and prosperous people abolished democracy in Athens (Herber et al. 24). Throughout human history oligarchs were present in Western and Eastern kingdoms in Europe. Since the Middle Ages, they usually exercised power at the same time as the legal ruler. Although this phenomenon has faded in modern political history, it is still actively present in one country - the Russian Federation. Russia has always been seen as an exceptional country with its bizarre history and unfathomable politics, where oligarchs are believed to own most of the wealth of Russian society. Their case is more than intriguing as they exert enormous influence on both economics and politics. How did these privileged people come to power? What is their actual impact on the economy and how limited has their political influence been in recent years in the Russian Federation? In the modern context, the term Russian oligarchs refers to extremely wealthy business tycoons. Before the disintegration of the USSR, a relatively small group of influential people already existed within the borders - the nomenklatura. Many of the former oligarchs held prominent positions as Soviet-era officials, such as deputy ministers, heads of departments, working for the Soviet government or supervising various enterprises (Braguinsky 316). After the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, already influential figures “converted their de facto control into property rights” (Guriev and