Word: medvedevs
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...campaign is over before it began: Dmitry Medvedev will be Russia's next President. Only two things can stop him. One would be a serious medical emergency. This is unlikely, since the man looks as fit as a flea; it has been centuries since any Kremlin ruler - except for the incumbent, Vladimir Putin - has looked in ruder health. The second snag would be any change of mind by Putin. Medvedev owes his projected elevation to the favor of just one man. Such is Putin's dominance that Medvedev has immediately begged him to serve as his Prime Minister after...
Ostensibly, Putin has made a bold decision. Medvedev is known as an economic liberal. Since being appointed as First Deputy Prime Minister in November 2005, he has held the portfolio of "national programs." His job was to bring dynamism to the government's welfare initiatives in housing, pension payments, health care and agriculture. In the 1990s there was a shocking deterioration in the living conditions of most Russians, dragging nearly a third of them below the poverty level. The rise in prices on the world's petrochemical market gave ministers an opportunity to improve the situation, and Medvedev has impressed...
...success was not guaranteed in advance. The Kremlin is a piranha tank of factions. In order to keep the money flowing into social welfare, Medvedev bared his teeth at predators in the security services and the military-industrial lobby - and, against the quoted odds, he survived and flourished...
Shadings of difference have come to light between Medvedev and Putin. In 2003, Medvedev was less than gushing in his approval of the arrest of oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky. This was when Putin's hunting down of the post-communist business "oligarchs" was in full spate. Medvedev has also frequently railed against corruption in Russian public life. He has made a point of saying repeatedly that the country badly needs to protect newly emerging small businesses. His career is apparently devoid of any postings in the Federal Security Service (FSB, the successor to the KGB), whereas several Kremlin leaders, including...
...Medvedev's divergences from Putin should not be overstated. Even his distancing himself from the Khodorkovsky affair cannot have been done without consulting Putin. Medvedev is not a politician who will move off the "patriotic" course plotted by his mentor. Putin is a wolf and has always enjoyed looking like one. Medvedev, despite covering himself in lamb's wool, will probably be just as menacing to the other inhabitants of the wood...