>
> It sure looked like Russia was going completely to
> hell in the
> Yeltsin years - towards absolute impoverishment and
> disintegration.
> And Putin didn't only stop it, he reversed it.
> That's a remarkable
> achievement, and we don't really know much about how
> it happened.
> Surely it had to be more than the strength of his
> personality - but
> what was it?
>
It was a combination of high oil prices, increased domestic demand after the devaluation of the ruble, and, yes, the "vertical of power" and the successful cowing of the oligarchic class.
===== Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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