Vladimir Putin (born 7 October 1952)served as the second President of theRussian Federation and is the current PrimeMinister of Russia, as well as chairman ofUnited Russia and Chairman of the Councilof Ministers of the Union of Russia andBelarus. He became acting President on31 December 1999, when president BorisYeltsin resigned in a surprising move,and then Putin won the 2000 presidentialelection. In 2004 he was re-elected for a second term lasting until 7 May2008.

Due to constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligibleto run for a third consecutive Presidential term. After the victory of hissuccessor, Dmitry Medvedev, in the 2008 presidential elections, he wasthen nominated by the latter to be Russia’s Prime Minister; Putin took thepost on 8 May 2008.

Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishingthe rule of law. During his eight years in office, due to strong macroeconomicmanagement, important fiscal policy reforms, and a confluence of high oilprices, surging capital inflows, and access to low-cost external financing,Russia’s economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase by72% in PPP (sixfold in nominal), poverty cut more than half, and averagemonthly salaries increase from $80 to $640, or by 150% in real rates.

Analysts have described Putin’s economic reforms as impressive.

During his presidency, Putin passed into law a series of fundamentalreforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, andnew land and legal codes. At the same time, his conduct in office has beenquestioned by domestic political opposition, foreign governments, andhuman rights organizations for leading the Second Chechen War, for hisrecord on internal human rights and freedoms, and for his alleged bullyingof the former Soviet Republics.

A new group of business magnates controlling significant swathesof Russia’s economy—such as Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska,Mikhail Prokhorov, or YuriyKovalchuk, all of whom haveclose personal ties to Putin—emerged according to mediareports. Along with Putin’sconnections to the businessworld, he has been criticizedsince the beginning of his firstterm as developing a cult ofpersonality.