Kommersant-Vlast: "What Is Dmitry Medvedev Doing Wrong?"
Dmitry Medvedev assumed his presidential duties a year ago. Vlast has asked its readers to reflect on his first year as President.
Viktor Kress, Governor of the Tomsk Region: so far Mr Medvedev has been doing everything right, but time will tell whether this will continue to be the case.
Georgy Grechko, pilot-cosmonaut, two-time Hero of the Soviet Union: He allows his subordinates to humiliate the people. The world is in crisis, interest rates on loans have been cut to 0.5% to 1% everywhere, but here the refinancing rate has only been reduced from 13% to 12.5%. Only drug lords, arms dealers and pimps can afford to borrow at such an interest rate. The authorities and the President dole out huge sums to oligarchs, but who will help the people? Mr Medvedev sometimes says intelligent and correct things, but nobody implements his good intentions.
Yelena Skrynnik, Minister of Agriculture: the President pursues balanced and, more importantly, effective policies. Suffice it to say that, despite the crisis, agricultural production in our country has reported growth in the first quarter.
Vladimir Ryzhkov, politician: He has yet to become President. He won the election a year ago, but his duties are more like those of the English Queen. Last year he did not make a single major independent decision. Mr Putin is still the leader. Mr Medvedev just carries out superficial protocol duties.
Oleg Vyugin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MDM Bank: He is too soft on Government officials. Considering that there is a financial crisis, he should be tougher on Government officials to implement anti-crisis measures.
Andrei Isayev, Chairman of State Duma Labour and Social Policy Committee, First Deputy Secretary of the Presidium of the United Russia General Council: Mr Medvedev has made no big mistakes. He has managed to build a relationship with a strong Prime Minister and ministries, resolve the complicated situation with South Ossetia, and is coping with the crisis. That is enough reason not to notice the minor slip-ups that anyone could make.
Gennady Onishchenko, the head of Rospotrebnadzor: As a civil servant, I have no right to publicly criticise my boss.
Sergey Kharyuchy, speaker of the Yamalo-Nenets parliament, President of the Association of Small-Numbered Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East: He has failed to develop an effective arrangement for rotating personnel. The ossified federal bureaucracy gets in the way of everything. It is time to change a lot of personnel in the regions, but without showdowns or drama. An effective system for rotating personnel is needed.
Ian Regin, President of the Russian-American Business Club: everything is as it should be. Thanks to President Medvedev and the young American President Barack Obama, friendship between our countries has been restored. They paved the way for mutual understanding, (the road on which there is no room for a black cat). It would be improper for me to criticise Medvedev; it would be more appropriate for me to criticise Barack Obama.
Oleg Kulikov, member of the CC KPRF, State Duma Deputy: The main thing is that he has not revised the system we inherited from Yeltsin. We have no democracy and no separation of powers because we have no independent media, judicial or legislative branches, or real feedback with society and the opposition. In principle, nothing has changed, the bureaucrats have kept their jobs.
Vadim Gustov, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on CIS Affairs: He does not fully exercise his presidential powers. He should take a good hard look at what has been done and what needs to be done, keep the bosses on edge, and fire some of them. Also, he shouldn't have allowed the Stabilisation Fund to be spread so thin.
Irina Khakamada, writer: Mr Medvedev says all the right things, but doesn't do much in reality. However, he has released Svetlana Bakhmina, although we shouldn't expect the release of Khodorkovsky. It is not he who makes such decisions. One cannot expect him to be independent: he and Putin are a team, and there is real dual power in our country. So things will be as the team decides.
Vladimir Gruzdev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Legislative Committee: Given our numerous problems, I cannot name a single one that he has mishandled. One would be hard put to find something that the President has done wrong. I do not even believe that direct intervention in the stock market was a mistake on Medvedev's part.
Anatoly Dolgolaptev, Director-General of Kompomash corporation: Medvedev speaks more than he acts. There are forces in this country that support his for four ‘i's', especially Innovation. But in reality the authorities are doing too little and too late. They are moving much more slowly than history dictates.
Valery Draganov: First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Industry: He is not doing enough to change and rejuvenate the management of the executive branch. Of course, he doesn't have time for everything, but some governors are not only unable to look into the future, but also to understand the past.
Alexander Tkachev, Governor of the Krasnodar Territory: Mr Medvedev is no novice in politics, and he understands very well what to do and what not to do.
Valeria Novodvorskaya, leader of the Democratic Union: Medvedev behaves like Vice Chairman Funt, except that he is not planning on serving a prison term on somebody else's behalf. And he won't go to prison. He is a television screen saver who conceals the hideous Russian anti-utopia under the CheKa. The job pays well, and there are hardly any responsibilities to speak of, except the responsibility to lie. But he does that with ease and enjoys it.
Alexander Tarkayev, deputy of the State Council of Tatarstan: Mr Medvedev does not follow through on initiatives; for example, he did not follow through on the anti-corruption law. The Duma rejected an initiative that had the backing of all of Russian society. Personally presenting the country's budget to the Government was also a very bad idea. It is not the President's job to report to the executive branch.
Vadim Klyuvgant, Mikhail Khodorkovsky's lawyer: It is too soon to talk about mistakes. A year is too short of a time. If only 50% of Medvedev's declarations are put into practice, his presidency could be described as a success. Some changes are already taking place: for example, I am glad that clearheaded words have been used instead of the oxymoron "dictatorship of the law". If Mr Medvedev respects the constitutional rights of citizens and ensures an independent trial in the Yukos case, he will do a great service to the country.
Mikhail Vinogradov, St Petersburg Policy Fund: So far no major mistakes. He does not make mistakes in areas he considers to be his own, such as building a relationship with the liberals. It is another question what will happen when Medvedev is left alone and the burden of responsibility increases. Then mistakes will be inevitable, especially in the economy.
Mikhail Krotov, Secretary-General of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly. Even if Mr Medvedev is doing something wrong, he is the only one who is aware of it. He has made no blunders, although his first year as President turned out to be very difficult.
Vladislav Korolyov, Deputy of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Legislative Assembly: He does not fight monopolies, including the monopoly of the state. Monopolies lead to stagnation. As a result, we do not have a proper economy; nobody creates added value. Instead we continue to sell commodities.
Fyodor Litvinenko, Volgograd City Duma Deputy: He does not ensure execution of his decisions, for example, in the fight against corruption and in his commitment not to make life a "nightmare" for businesses, especially small ones.
Vladislav Funtyakov, Deputy Chairman of the Sochi Municipal Assembly: I don't see anything that he has done obviously wrong, but people in Sochi are unhappy that the positive changes promised in connection with the Olympics project are materialising too slowly. We would like to see the country's chief executive pay more attention to the Olympic capital.
Alexander Livshits, deputy director general of the company RusAl: A good question, but don't ask me.
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK/ SIX YEARS AGO
* (* Positions are indicated as of the time of the poll)
What is Putin doing wrong?
Vladimir Putin was elected President three years ago.
Vladimir Platonov, Speaker of the Moscow City Duma: He is not fighting the underground economy hard enough. That fight should have accompanied all of his initiatives.
Pavel Borodin, Secretary of State of the Russia-Belarus Union: He is doing everything right. Only it takes time for this to sink in to people.
Alexander Livshits, Deputy Director General of the company RusAl: He has failed to curb inflation. It is higher than in 1997. He has failed to accelerate economic growth.
Anatoly Dolgolaptev, President of the League of Defence Industries: He has been too slow in restoring the defence and hi-tech industries.
Vladimir Bulgak, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Comincom-Combellga group of companies: He is not doing enough to ensure directives are fulfilled. Bureaucrats take a long time to get things started.
Musheg Mamikonyan, head of the Russian Meat Union: He is doing everything right as far as our industry is concerned.
Alexander Nazarov, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee for Northern Affairs: He has failed to return the mineral resources to the state.
Roksana Babayan, Merited Artist of Russia: He is doing everything right. But he is hindered by society's inertia, and most people's reluctance to work hard.
Yevgeny Mikhailov, Governor of the Pskov Region: He shouldn't have done what he has done to the Federation Council: the old system was more effective. His initiatives with the federal districts are not very clear.
Berl Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia according to the Jewish Communities Federation: He doesn't pay enough attention to the medical problems.
Yevgeny Shvarts, Nature Conservation Director, World Wildlife Fund: He shouldn't have eliminated the independent State Nature Conservation Agency.
Oleg Solodukhin, political analyst: He isn't doing anything wrong, because he hasn't done anything. The country is drifting. Mr Putin remains a president of expectations.
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Mr Medvedev says all the right things but does little.
