Word: putin
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...That sort of doom-laden analysis is an extreme minority view - but the fact that it is being aired at all is remarkable. The Russian political system is authoritarian and secretive, but there's no sign that Putin's supporters are preparing to abandon him. In the past, Putin has shown himself ruthless in imposing his authority - as Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Yukos founder who tried to challenge Putin's power by funding rival political parties, discovered to his cost. Khodorkovsky has been in prison since October 2003, charged with offenses, which he denies, including tax evasion, embezzlement and theft...
...Sergei Markov, a prominent pro-Kremlin analyst, dismisses Belkovsky's predictions, recalling his past links with exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a Putin nemesis. Markov acknowledges that Putin suffered setbacks in 2004, but says he remains "confident and in charge." But Mikhail Delyagin, a member of the pro-Putin nationalist political movement Rodina, agrees with Belkovsky's diagnosis. Putin's wobbly response to the pensioner crisis "shows he's not capable of comprehending the acuity of the situation," Delyagin says. And even if he was, Delyagin thinks he wouldn't be able to do much about it: "His team...
...owned Russian oil company Rosneft, bought its main oil producing unit, Yuganskneftegaz, for a knockdown price, "demonstrated the state's unwillingness to guarantee private property." And Yushchenko's victory in Ukraine showed that Russia wanted to pursue "an imperialist foreign policy but couldn't even achieve that." Shevtsova believes Putin is building an authoritarian system that "contains not only colossal menace for Russian society, but could escape from the control of those who created...
...these the first signs that the system is slipping from Putin's control? The poll numbers are not good. Earlier this month, the Romir polling agency reported that 49% of respondents in a nationwide survey felt that the country was heading into a "dead end" - 20% more than the previous year. The Public Opinion Foundation, a polling outfit regarded as well disposed to the President, released a survey last week showing that his popularity has dropped from 48% to 43% in just over two weeks. But the real problem for Putin over the next few years may come from...
...destruction of Yukos coincided with a shift in economic policy, with the Kremlin reasserting state control over key areas of the economy like energy, and gradually backtracking on promises of free market reforms. By the end of last year, even members of Putin's own team - his economic adviser Andrei Illarionov and Trade Minister German Gref - were complaining that reforms had stalled and the President had failed to use the bonanza in oil revenues to shift the economy away from its near total dependence on oil and gas and toward a more diversified set of exports. In December, Illarionov warned...