Russian oligarch 2004, Putin apparently engaged in a power-struggle with some oligarchs, reaching a "grand bargain" with them. This bargain allowed the oligarchs to maintain their powers, in exchange for their explicit support of – and alignment with – Putin's government. Many more business people have become oligarchs during Putin's time in power, and often due to personal relations with Putin, such as the rector of the institute where Putin obtained a degree in 1996, Vladimir Litvinenko, and Putin's childhood friend and judo-teacher Arkady Rotenberg. However, other analysts argue that the oligarchic structure has remained intact under Putin, with Putin devoting much
Marc Rotenberg in cooperation with the US Chess Center. Marc Rotenberg Marc Rotenberg is President and Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), an independent, public interest research center in Washington, DC. He teaches privacy law at Georgetown Law, litigates open government and privacy cases, studies emerging privacy and civil liberties issues, testifies before Congress, and speaks at judicial conferences. He testified before the 9-11 Commission on "Security and Liberty: Protecting Privacy, Preventing Terrorism." Marc is a guest on Bloomberg TV, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, FoxNews, and National Public Radio, and contributes to The Economist, The New York Times, and USA