Tensions Increase Between Putin and Medvedev

They are friends now, but could differing agendas tear them apart?

The honeymoon could be over as President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin’s differences are starting to come out. Putin’s recent comments regarding steel and coal giant Mechel’s primary owner Igor Zyuzin’s ill health. Mechel’s stock value took a slight dip after those comments and just as the company and its PR department recovered, Putin dropped a bomb on the company and the financial sector. Putin accused Mechel of evading taxes by charging less for foreign sales than domestic sales. Well I’m sure you can guess that the stock of the company once again plummeted. This didn’t sit too well with Medvedev to say the least.

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Putin and Medvedev haven’t been seen very often together since the May 7th inauguration of the President and a new poll says most Russians think Medvedev is not in charge. 9 percent believe he is in charge, 36 percent say that Putin is still in charge and 47 percent say the two share power equally. This doesn’t bode well for Medevdev as he launches his new anti-corruption campaign. Medvedev will need as many supporters as he can get while he slowly tries to distance himself from Putin. Regarding the Mechel accusations, Medvedev said that Putin’s comments caused ‘nightmares’ for business in Russia. Well that certainly isn’t the typical way to thank the man who gave you your position.

Don’t think I’m in support of Putin here. Not at all. While I applaud his efforts to prevent tax evasion in Russia, a bigger priority is Medvedev’s campaign against corruption at the government level. Medvedev must fire warning shots like the nightmare comment to successfully step out of Putin’s shadow and prevent an all out war with Putin and staunch division in Russian Politics. Putin is a very strong adversary who controls the United Russia political party and thus two-thirds in the lower house of parliament and could start a campaign to impeach Medvedev. The President has already said that he will be shaking up the bureaucracy that he inherited from Putin that frequently awarded posts to the highest bidder.

Medvedev is apparently going in the direction of a shake up as soon as this fall as a component of his anti-corruption campaign. Any supporters that he can pick up from Putin along the way will be a great asset as well. The only way for Medvedev to succeed is to gather as much support and power as he can. Distancing himself from Putin will be a long, laborious process if it is going to be done without a nationwide struggle that would hurt more than help. Medvedev is on the right course and time line as of right now in my opinion and he could become a fantastic President and Russian hero if everything goes right. I pray that everything does not just for the sake of a corrupt Russia, but for the sake of the international community because a Russian power struggle will hurt everyone in the long run.