The auction has even drawn interest from foreign bidders, an unusual development for Russian privatizations.

Mr. Chubais later became the architect of Russian privatization in the 1990's under President Boris N. Yeltsin.

He has repackaged the work, given it a punchy title and billed it as an insider tell-all about Russian privatization.

But Russian privatization has preceded any serious attempt to wean the enterprises from subsidies, and thus has created little incentive for the newly privatized businesses to shed workers.

But in the hazily defined inner workings of Russian privatization, fair play is only in the eyes of the winner.

Anatoly Chubais (influential member of Boris Yeltsin's administration and architect of Russian privatization)

This is in contrast to Russian privatization, which consisted of sales of communal assets to private companies rather than share-transfer to citizens.

Sale of state-owned factories well below their market value was common during the Russian privatization of early 1990s.

The final purchase price for the shares was $250 million, making Norilsk Nickel one of the biggest bargains in Russian privatization.

The sale may turn out to be the most competitive Russian privatization since the end of Communism.