Romanov family dictatorship of Russia

The cult surrounding the Romanov's in Russia has existed in Russia since the mid 90s. In 15 years they have established what foreign experts almost exclusively define as a family dictatorship. Due to their immense wealth and power there hasn't been a real opposition in Russia for almost a decade.

The current Romanov's are in fact closely related to the Romanov royal house which ruled Russia for over 300 years before the revolution in 1917.

The current head of the family is Aleksei Nikolaevich Romanov, who also happens to be the President of the Russian Federation.

Nikolai Ivanovich Romanov
Nikolai Ivanovich (1927-2002) was more or less the founder of the modern Romanov dynasty. He entered politics soon after the fall of the Soviet regime in 1991, and having gotten his hands on at least some of the wealth of the former monarchy (pre-1917) he had the means to rapidly establish himself as a viable candidate for the presidency in the elections in 1995, which he won and thus served as the second president of Russia from 1995 to 1999 when he reigned in favour of his son (then Prime minister), who consequently won the 2001 elections of president.

Aleksei Nikolaevich Romanov
Aleksei Nikolaevich (b. 1956), son of former president and founder of the modern Romanov dynasty, Nikolai Ivanovich, is the current President of the Russian Federation. He is also considered the head of the Romanov ruling family. He has since his rise to power in the beginning of the 2000s held a firm grip of the political power in Russia and most key political posts are held by members of his family. His style differs a bit from his fathers in that he sees no problem in mixing concepts as democracy with dictatorship, peace and war etc., for example, his first act as president was to re-adopt the old Soviet-tune as the national anthem of his country.

Dmitry Alekseevich Romanov
Dmitry Alekseevich (b. 1987), the oldest son of President Aleksi Nikolaevich. Is the current General Secretary of the Sil'naya Rossiya-political party. He also holds the posts of Minister of Defence and First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. He's a four star general in the Air Force.

Olga Ivanovna Romanova
Sister of the former president, Nikolai Ivanov, born in 1934, she holds the position as Chairman of the Federation COunsil of Russia.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Romanov
Brother of the current president, Aleksei Nikolaevich, he's the Chief of the General Staff of Russia, he's the only one current Marshal of the Russian Federation, the highest military rank in Russia.

Others
Some other members of the family who holds important positions in supporting the regime, but these are by no means all.
 * Irina Ivanova Romanova, sister to first president Nikolai Ivanov, Governor of St. Petersburg.
 * Sergei Alekseevich Romanov, brother to Dimitry Alekseevich, Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom Group.
 * Tatiana Alekseeva Romanova, sister to Dmitry Alekseevich, Managing Director of the Central Bank of Russia.

Relationship to the "Royal Romanovs"
The family is descended from the youngest child of Tsar Aleksander II, the great-grandfather of the last Tsar Nikolai II. They are thus one of the branches of the family claiming to be the real Romanov's.

Wealth
Although almost all foreign experts are in accordance with that though the Romanov's kick-started their political career in the nineties with money from the old imperial regime, they have since accumulated an immense fortune on their own. The Romanov Family Fund is the managing entity of the fortune and is reportedly worth in excess of 500 million USD, however it is also general knowledge that the Romanov's own companies, stocks and land through other channels and so many experts believe that the Romanov fortune might well be over a trillion USD, making them the richest family, not only in Russia but in the world.

International perception
There are many critical voices against the regime, but due to the immense influence of Russia outside her borders there little to be done. Most nations maintain neutral to good relations with Russia.