DATE=1/28/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=WHO IS PUTIN?
NUMBER=5-45337
BYLINE=ANDRE DE NESNERA
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// EDS: This is the first of two reports
on Vladimir Putin. ///
INTRO: Russia's acting president - Vladimir Putin -
continues to be the favorite to win the country's
presidential elections scheduled March 26th. In this
report from Washington, former Moscow correspondent
Andre de Nesnera looks at what is known about the man
who may lead Russia in the years ahead.
TEXT: Forty-seven-year-old Vladimir Putin has been
Russia's acting President since December 31st, when
Boris Yeltsin unexpectedly announced his resignation.
Before taking over the presidency, Mr. Putin was prime
minister - chosen for the job by Mr. Yeltsin last
August. And now, with presidential elections set for
March 26th, he is the overwhelming favorite to lead
Russia for the next four years.
Despite his meteoric rise to power, many Russians -
and western analysts - still ask the question: who is
Mr. Putin and what does he really stand for?
His official biography is sketchy. A graduate of the
prestigious Leningrad law faculty, Mr. Putin joined
the Soviet secret police - the K-G-B - in the mid-
1970s. He was sent to East Germany and remained there
until the end of the 1980s.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Mr.
Putin shifted gears and associated himself with the
liberal mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak. He
served first as the city's head of external relations
- responsible for getting foreign investments into the
city - then became St. Petersburg's deputy-mayor
(1994).
Mr. Putin returned to Moscow, after Mr. Sobchak was
defeated in St. Petersburg's 1996 elections for
governor. A few years later, Mr. Putin was named to
head the Federal Security Service - the K-G-B's
domestic successor. He then became prime minister and
acting president - a position he now holds.
Western analysts are debating whether Mr. Putin is a
reformer - given his track record in St. Petersburg -
or is he more bent on authoritarianism - given his
history in the secret services. Or, is he somewhere
in between?
Bruce Johnson - with the Hudson Institute - says there
are positive elements in the way Mr. Putin addresses
problems.
/// JOHNSON ACT ///
We know of an incident in the mid `90's when he
was, of course, one of the powers in the city of
St. Petersburg - when a group of American
entrepreneurs were trying to get butter and
badly needed dairy products into Russia which
were being donated, as a matter of fact. It was
being blocked by the communists - completely -
because they wanted their cut. And the group
was not willing to pay this corrupt fee to get
things into the hands of the people. Putin
personally solved this. He took five weeks to
do it - and at no time did he take credit and at
no time did he ask for credit. And he actually
blocked three attempts by people to take some of
the butter for their "payment." We have a lot
of incidents like that that give me a lot of
hope.
/// END ACT ///
Most analysts agree it is unlikely Mr. Putin will go
back to the days of Soviet-style command economy. But
many analysts say while Mr. Putin is in favor of a
market economy, they question his commitment to
democratic principles. One of them is Marshal
Goldman, from Harvard University.
/// GOLDMAN ACT ///
He has basically begun to re-institute some
controls over the press which brings back the
threat of censorship. There has also been an
effort to try and control the (computer internet
world wide) web - the e-mail - so that the K-G-
B, or the new version of the K-G-B, will have
access to that. So these are all what I would
call "dark clouds." But he does also talk about
trying to bring back investment and trying to
bring about the market. And I suspect what
ultimately we will end up with is a man who
relies very heavily on the government, who shows
his feelings for the K-G-B and strong state
control - but who at the same time will try
periodically to move towards a market.
/// END ACT ///
Many western experts say it would be foolish for Mr.
Putin to reveal all his cards in the midst of a
presidential campaign. Ariel Cohen - with the
"Heritage Foundation" - says Mr. Putin, at this time,
has one goal in mind.
/// COHEN ACT ///
He is a consummate politician and the main thing
for a politician is to gain power and remain in
power. That is priority number one: to get
elected, to make the communist opposition to
himself somewhat duller in the March 26th
presidential elections. And to try to position
himself as appealing to all sectors of Russian
society: reformer and nationalist, moderate,
communist and right-winger. That is the supreme
task of Vladimir Putin - and so far, he has had
many more successes than mistakes going down
that road.
/// END ACT ///
In the short-term, analysts say Mr. Putin remains a
mystery. They say his true colors will come out after
the March 26th presidential elections which he is
expected to win. (Signed)
NEB/ADEN/JP
28-Jan-2000 16:53 PM EDT (28-Jan-2000 2153 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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