Two allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin joined Russia's most influential business lobby on Dec. 21. That was followed by a live, national call-in program Dec. 24 — broadcast via television, radio and Internet — in which Putin fielded questions from his countrymen for 2 1/2 hours.
Taken together, these events signal Putin has nearly finished consolidating his economic, political and social control and is now better positioned to hammer the few resistant elements into line. With newfound political stability, the president will set about implementing reforms passed in 2001 and begin crafting a new raft of reforms in 2002.
This fresh momentum comes at a fortuitous moment. U.S. and European leaders are now openly saying Russia should join the World Trade Organization in 2003. For that to happen, Putin must prove to the world that Russia can make its reform laws stick in 2002.
Russia's oligarchs control the bulk of the economy and have made the reform process a nightmare. On Dec. 21, the president and his allies took yet another step to bring the oligarchs to heel: Former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller joined the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, commonly known as the trade union of the oligarchs. Putin can now manipulate the oligarchs, or at a bare minimum eviscerate the body they use to coordinate their actions.
Taken together, these events signal Putin has nearly finished consolidating his economic, political and social control and is now better positioned to hammer the few resistant elements into line. With newfound political stability, the president will set about implementing reforms passed in 2001 and begin crafting a new raft of reforms in 2002.
This fresh momentum comes at a fortuitous moment. U.S. and European leaders are now openly saying Russia should join the World Trade Organization in 2003. For that to happen, Putin must prove to the world that Russia can make its reform laws stick in 2002.
Russia's oligarchs control the bulk of the economy and have made the reform process a nightmare. On Dec. 21, the president and his allies took yet another step to bring the oligarchs to heel: Former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller joined the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, commonly known as the trade union of the oligarchs. Putin can now manipulate the oligarchs, or at a bare minimum eviscerate the body they use to coordinate their actions.
