VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
An interesting incident happened during Prime Minister Putin’s recent meeting with the representatives of political and non-governmental organisations. The secretary of the Public Chamber, Mr Velikhov, who was one of the first to speak, told the Prime Minister about a recent resolution of the Public Chamber’s plenary session on the topic “The National Economic Strategy in the Context of the World Crisis”. The resolution stressed the importance, in time of crisis, of understanding that the state is an institution of national solidarity. Before giving the floor to the next speaker, Mr Putin commented on Mr Velikhov’s reference to the “need to consolidate society in the face of the threatening crisis today”.
“Toppled regime”: an official end to the counterterrorist operation in Chechnya.
Last Thursday as tens of thousands of protesters on Prospekt Rustaveli were chanting “Misha, Go!”, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili was explaining to Newsweek’s Anna Nemtsova that the opposition in Georgia had no chance and that he had never personally insulted Vladimir Putin.
Our correspondent has studied the sales ratings of political literature at three major Moscow bookshops (the Moscow Book House, Biblio-Globus and Moskva) to find out that the vast majority of Russian political bestsellers explain to the public who our country’s foes are and why.
Both Moscow and Baghdad have welcomed the visit to Russia by an Iraqi delegation led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which ended on Saturday. The parties have agreed to promote cooperation in the power and oil industries and in the military field. Nezavisimaya Gazeta has learned that Baghdad is shortly to send a team of experts to Russia to choose the model of helicopter that Iraq would buy.
Last weekend saw protest actions by motorists against the official policy on the import and use of second-hand foreign-made cars. Remembering it was Cosmonauts Day, the protestors recommended President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin going into outer space. The focus of motorists’ protests was again Vladivostok where the participants in an unsanctioned rally were detained by the police.
FRANKFURT-AM-MAIN (GERMANY)
Poverty makes one rich
During the economic downturn the backward Russian regions fall back on the values that are immune to crisis. The price of orders and medals that regional rulers are giving out is the higher the greater the region’s financial dependence on the federal budget. The extremely poor Kalmykia is 90% financed by Moscow while its President decorates foremost individuals with a White Lotus Order made of platinum and adorned with 13 diamonds and 8 rubies…
Vladimir Putin was writing a report but ended up with an address to the Duma.
Russian oil companies have a chance to return to Iraq, as became clear after the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Moscow. This was the first visit to Russia by the head of the Iraqi Cabinet formed under the country’s constitution adopted in October 2005.
It is nearly ten years since the ailing Boris Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin as the head of the Russian Government. This coincided with the start of a spurt of the national economy which was leaving the 1998 crisis behind it and enjoyed the benefits of extraordinarily high energy prices. Although now it is Dmitry Medvedev and not Vladimir Putin who attends international summits and hobnobs with world leaders, they undoubtedly feel that Vladimir Putin is still Russia’s real leader.
