Mr. Murray called Mr. Putin very tough, mentally swift, immaculately prepared and ingenious at navigating Russia's labyrinthine bureaucracy.

Ugolini is noted as a dynamic and charismatic personality who learnt to work with and manipulate the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the fascist regime to his own advantage.

TRUE, but other consulting operations don't have the headache of trying to work from within I.B.M.'s still labyrinthine bureaucracy.

"Cronyism and the labyrinthine bureaucracy that businesses must navigate to turn a profit frighten away all but the most courageous investors," the report said.

The case wound through Russia's labyrinthine bureaucracy for three years.

At one moment he called it "about the largest and most labyrinthine bureaucracy that man or woman has ever been able to design.

Even before the election, direct foreign investment in Russia was somewhat anemic, a victim of heavy taxes, a labyrinthine bureaucracy and Western fears that the "new Russia" is politically unstable.

And the labyrinthine bureaucracy has a vested interest in maintaining the blizzard of licensing that stirs considerable corruption.

The problem is that Mr. Kiet's message is not moving down through the labyrinthine Vietnamese bureaucracy that is the legacy of decades of rigid Communist rule.

Their labyrinthine bureaucracy was astonishing in its ability to deny us what we were paying for and desperately needing.