The russian president Vladimir Putin has had a considerable personal benefit from his eight years in office. Acording to sources in Kreml, the president has managed to grow a personal furtune of 40 billion dollars, carefully hidden away in networks and shareholdings mainly in oil and gas companies.
Thirteen years ago the russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovskij, owner of the huge oil and gas company Yukos, was arrested on acusations of tax fraud. Khodorkovskij was a part of the russian freemarked experiment. As an oligark he was virtually pointed out by the Jeltsin government to become the spearhead of the free marked. His visions did however collide with Putins ideas about government ownership of the nations resources. But is government ownership realy what Putin strive for, or has he in fact done nothing but to bake his own cake? As alway Putin remains enigmatic as he seams to be speaking with a spilt tounge. He speaks of adveloping a russian version of democracy, but he also talks openly about "the vertical of power". In the meantime the assasinations of journalists, critics and political opponents continues. The journalist Anna Politkovskaja was gunned down right outside her home, and nobody has yet been convicted for the crime. As for the former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned in London, Putin went as far as to activly prevent a propper investigation. One can not help to wonder about Putins spilt toung. As the snake bites fiercely in it´s own laier, the poison reaches even farther.