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
German Sterligov is a symbolic figure in Russian business. At 25, he was one of the first to make a fortune while others were scratching their heads, waving banners, and seeking a miraculous national idea. In the troubled 1990s, his Alisa, the first stock exchange in the country, reported huge turnovers.
Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin admitted yesterday that the Affordable Housing National Programme had failed to achieve its main goal. Despite the growing state financing, the increased annual construction volume between 2006 and 2008 has not resulted in more affordable housing. The population segment able to afford real estate has only increased by 1%. No improvement of the trend is expected in 2009.
Two nationwide actions - one pro-government and the other anti-government - are due to be held on January 31. The Presidium of the United Russia General Council will hold a nationwide action in support of the Government's anti-crisis measures. Meanwhile, the KPRF has applied to hold a nationwide protest on January 31. Both sides believe provocations leading to clashes cannot be ruled out.
The Government will rely on housing construction to pull the country out of the crisis.
A traditional World Economic Forum (WEF) will start in Davos on Wednesday and will last for five days. Highly representative delegations are arriving in Switzerland, no doubt with many subjects for discussion, considering how badly the global economy has been shaken in the last six months.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will continue to hold large-scale news conferences involving the regional and federal media. Although such news conferences will be similar to those held by Putin during his presidential terms, there will be some changes. Quite possibly, Putin will communicate with journalists during all-Russian media forums involving the supporters of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. As a rule, journalists from all Russian regions attend such forums. The ex-President could play the part of Prime Minister and United Russia leader during the above-mentioned forums.
At midday yesterday, when Yulia Tymoshenko was at Kiev Airport preparing to fly to Moscow, all the Ukrainian President’s men were celebrating the feast of the Baptism of Jesus bathing in a hole in the ice covering the Dnieper. The leader of the opposition Party of Regions, Viktor Yanukovich, who had warned in advance that doctors had forbidden him to take part in the Baptism water rites proceeded to criticize the yet-to-be-signed gas agreements. The Ukrainian politicians behaved as if the gas conflict had been closed although they intended to use it as a political trump card inside the country.
In my view, the discussion has been lively and productive. My first impression is that a political crisis is inevitable. It will not come from the opposition, but follow a managerial crisis brought on by the financial and economic crisis as it expands. Nothing is being done to prevent a managerial and especially a political crisis: the authorities are inadequate here. In the political field, they continue to exercise "total control", even though this policy is counter-productive today.
Vladimir Putin had a busy day yesterday, what with the planned signing of a gas contract with Ukraine. The Government was preparing for the arrival of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, but although important agreements had been reached the night before, few people in Moscow believed the gas conflict was over. What if Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko changes his mind again?
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met again in Moscow yesterday, and signed a 10-year contract on natural gas supply to Ukraine.
