A NEW RUSSIA: WHAT PUTIN LEFT TO MEDVEDEV

A NEW RUSSIA: WHAT PUTIN LEFT TO MEDVEDEV: Putin, Russia, Medvedev
From Memet Aydemir

“NEW CZARS AND THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been elected for the presidency 2 times after 2000 when he officially took office. According to the Russian Constitution, Putin’s term of office will expire in 2008. Since Putin took office, the macro indicators of the Russian economy increased approximately 6 times. And this depends on the fact that Russia is a petroleum exporting country. Because, in 1998, a barrel of petroleum costed around 10 dollars; but today the price approached to 60 dollars. This is reflected on the Russian economy, which shows changeability depending upon the exportation, with 6 times increase. In his presidential term, Putin went to war demanding Jewish oligarches to pay taxes. Jewish Khodorkovsky, whose fortune was 8 billions, was also the head of the Yukos and he tried to bankrupt Russian economy. At first Putin warned Khodorkovsky and told him not to keep on evading tax; but as he could not get a favourable result, he got Khodorkovsky arrested. Also in 2006, foreign capital tripled; and reached to 30 billion dollars in Putin’s Russia. Thanks to the stability he gained in the country and the progress he brought to the economy, Russian public esteem Putin as the new Czar and love him.