Breaking the Stereotype: Putin No. One, Medvedev No. Two

Some Russian political analysts anticipate that the presidency of Dmitriy Medvedev will bring a thaw to Russia. Mikhail Shinkovsky, professor of the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service, commented on a confusing situation between the two Russian leaders. He said: “We can’t say that Putin is an authoritarian leader and Medvedev is a more gentle one. We are talking about the continuation of a political course and direction of development. I don’t want to judge if it’s good or not. I repeat: the intrigue will start after March 2, 2008. Vladimir Putin and Dmidriy Medvedev have been working together for 17 years. They graduated from the same juridical faculty of the Leningrad State University. For the time of their work they have elaborated a stereotype of behavior that is evident: Vladimir Vladmirovich – “number one”, Dmitriy Anatol’evich – “number two”. How will they build up relations further? Who will become the first and who – the second? It’s a big question. A thought about the coming thaw didn’t occurred to my mind because in my opinion nothing really froze earlier. I’d call the Putin’s regime as a soft authoritarian regime.”