Former dissident Roy Medvedev, who is a well-known historian and journalist, and who was harassed many times during the Soviet period, has written a book called "Vladimir Putin: Four Years In The Kremlin". Medvedev's new book has just come off the press. We publish the text of Medvedev's interview below.
I'm deeply convinced that Vladimir Putin's successful presidency was facilitated by his sky-high popularity ratings and his unprecedentedly great popular-trust potential, rather than by any new political technologies whatsoever, Medvedev noted. Both factors stem from his policies and statesmanship, as well as his independent decisions, for which he assumed complete responsibility, Medvedev added. That's why Vladimir Putin became a veritable "nucleus" of what could be called "healthy elements of society" back in the good old days, Medvedev went on to say.
I'd also like to note that a group of serious economists, administrators, managers and law-enforcement officers began to rally around Vladimir Putin during the same period, Medvedev told Trud. That group comprised G. Gref, D. Kozak, D. Medvedev, I. Sechin, N. Patrushev, S. Ivanov, V. Cherkesov, S. Mironov, I. Klebanov, V. Kozhin, V. Ivanov, A. Grigoryev, G. Poltavchenko, L. Reiman and others. Those people, who had their own style work, considered Vladimir Putin to be their leader.
However, I can't conceal my doubts and concerns in this connection because the presidential team apparently still lacks any outstanding person of Vladimir Putin's magnitude, Medvedev stressed.
Boris Yeltsin's entourage prompted him to choose a successor only when it became obvious that he wasn't prepared to run the country both physically and morally. Vladimir Putin recently started talking about his successor for the first time ever. I'm sure that Vladimir Putin will step down as president four years from now, Medvedev noted. Still this doesn't necessarily mean that he will quit big-time politics. It would be quite logical to suppose that Vladimir Putin will retain his political influence, subsequently running for president in 2012. For instance, Vladimir Putin might become the United Russia party's leader. The new President might also appoint Vladimir Putin as his Prime Minister. I'd like to emphasize the fact that a person must remain in high places, thus preserving his influence. One can't merely act as some Deng Xiaoping in this country. How did Vladimir Putin himself tackle this problem? In my opinion, he hasn't yet settled this issue. First of all, this can be explained by the fact that Vladimir Putin's entourage still lacks an absolutely worthy person, who can be placed in charge of Russia.
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