Dictionary

minigarch en · NOUN

Etymology

Blend of mini- + oligarch.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:chiefly concerning the former Soviet Union) A petty oligarch, one with somewhat less money or power.
   • Financial and economic groups, which emerged as a result of the Yushchenko-inspired boom with an average growth rate in the gross national income of 9 percent since the year 2000, had created a new generation of “minigarchs.” They resented rampant corruption in tax administration and government and were angry at the plunder of the country by a narrow group of oligarchic billionaires backing the incumbent power elite and its candidate, Yanukovych. 2006, Adrian Karatnycky, “The Fall and Rise of Ukraine’s Political Opposition: From Kuchmagate to the Orange Revolution,” in Anders Åslund, Michael McFaul, eds., Revolution in Orange: The Origins of Ukraine’s Democratic Breakthrough, Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, p 37
   • One person familiar with the Moscow business world said of Povarenkin: “He’s a typical ‘minigarch’ guy who managed to cobble together a bunch of assets, deploying the typical Russian means of doing it.” 2018 June 15, Luke Harding, Dina Nagapetyants, “UK visa of Russian oligarch who met Arron Banks under review”, in The Guardian:

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