Greed masquerading as patriotic duty may also explain the troubles of Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the billionaire boss of Sistema, a holding company, who now finds himself under house arrest. Igor Sechin, a longtime Putin confidant, who is in charge of Rosneft, a state-owned oil giant, is said to covet Mr Yevtushenkov’s oil company, Bashneft, as a way of shoring up declining production at Rosneft.