Russia's finance chief rebels over Putin plan
By Timothy Heritage and Lidia Kelly
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON | Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:20pm EDT
(Reuters) - Russia's finance minister rebelled on Sunday against Vladimir Putin's plan to make President Dmitry Medvedev his prime minister if he returns to the Kremlin by saying he would not serve in the next government.
Foreign investors were alarmed by Alexei Kudrin's snub after Putin, who is now prime minister, announced he would run for president next March in an election that could extend his rule until 2024.
Kudrin, a Putin ally, has prime ministerial ambitions and said he had "disagreements" with Medvedev who may now struggle to establish his credibility as premier after being forced by Putin to renounce his dream of a second term as president.
.
.
.
Kudrin won the respect of investors as a guardian of financial stability by saving windfall oil revenues for a rainy-day fund which helped Russia through the 2008 global economic crisis.
.
.
.
Many investors say Kudrin, who has been finance minister since 2000 and worked with Putin in St Petersburg in the 1990s, would be the most suitable person to lead a pro-reform government and that he may yet figure in Putin's plans.
.
.
.
Putin looks sure to be elected president in March but some Russians regard the proposed job swap by Putin and Medvedev with mistrust. Some are tired of Putin, or a small circle around him, taking key decisions in secret.
"The show went like clockwork. They decided everything for us years ago," said Irina Karpova, a 38-year-old housewife in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
.
.
.
But Putin, who was once a KGB officer in East Germany, is accused by critics of riding roughshod over human rights and democracy, and expanding the power of the security forces.
Critics say his return to the Kremlin, virtually unopposed, could bring back memories of the economic and political sclerosis under Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the 1970s and early 1980s.
They say Putin could resist carrying out pension reforms and changes to reduce Russia's dependency on natural resources. Oil and gas revenues make up half the budget so Russia, the world's biggest energy producer, is vulnerable to fluctuations in global energy prices.
"I'm sick of it all. Putin is clinging to power with his teeth and apparently is going to rule for life," said Tamara Zdorovenko, a 68-year-old pensioner in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok.
.
.
.
Full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/25/us-russia-idUSTRE78N0RH20110925
Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months
| 