Change of leadership in Crimea means property grab
By By LAURA MILLS and JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG - Associated Press
12/02/2014 12:06 PM | Updated: 12/02/2014 12:06 PM
YALTA, Crimea —
One day in October, a dozen armed men in masks drove up to the gates of Yalta Film Studios. They weren't actors, and this was no make-believe. It was a hostile takeover.
"They forced all the employees onto the ground, sealed off the premises and halted the work of the studio," said owner Sergei Arshinov.
The studio, nestled in the hills overlooking the Black Sea, is just one of thousands of businesses seized from their owners since Crimea was annexed by Russia eight months ago. Crimea's new pro-Moscow leaders say the takeovers, which they call nationalizations, are indispensable to reverse years of wholesale plunder by Ukrainian politicians and oligarchs. [...]