| Vladimir Putin has long thought about Mikhail Fradkov The initial shock from Vladimir Putin's presentation of his candidacy for the post of Prime Minister yesterday very quickly gave way to a chorus of praises addressed to the candidate - Mikhail Fradkov. Within a few hours, it became clear that the entire political elite knew the candidate (some for decades, some only saw him once, and even then from afar) as an honest, decent, efficient, professional person and official. Of all Vladimir Putin's supporters, only Zhirinovsky was dissatisfied - but in previous years he fiercely sought Mr. Fradkov's resignation from various posts.
However, everyone's satisfaction does not negate the fact that Putin has once again brilliantly refuted the myth of his predictability. Which caused slight concern among some critical supporters of the president. “It seems that we are seeing a manifestation of the president’s established style - he does not like to make the decisions that everyone expects from him. And in this sense, there is a risk that this will become an end in itself - that the decision will be unexpected,” says Anatoly Chubais, head of RAO UES, in a special statement. However, Mr. Chubais immediately casts aside all doubts: “But in this decision, in my understanding, the risk was overcome and the decision, although unexpected, was not due to loss of quality.”
Mass epiphany, it seems, should be the answer to the question: why did Vladimir Putin fire Mikhail Kasyanov. After all, even if the president had not directly promised that his candidate would completely clarify the future political course, everyone would still be trying to spot signs of this course in the new prime minister. Alas. So far the situation looks like the policy is absolute unity of command within the power vertical.
But even in this case, there remains a desire to understand what motivated the president. His decision, upon closer examination, leaves the possibility of two types of versions: a) “behavioral” (as Mr. Chubais spoke about) and b) “conspiratorial.” Let us not consider the first type now and turn to the second, especially since there is not only a place for conspiracy theories, but also some grounds. It is clear that the public would take it for granted if a little-known or even unknown candidate, originally from St. Petersburg, who owes his entire service to one single person, was proposed for the post of prime minister. In the end, it is precisely these people who now occupy the third and fourth positions on the state hierarchical ladder, as well as the No. 1 position in our national gas heritage.
However, what was proposed to the Duma and Russia was not a Leningrader who had made a career in the last few years, but a native of the provincial Samara village of Kurumoch, who received the necessary recommendations to work in government bodies abroad back in the early 1970s and has successfully continued his career progress to this day. He had to work with different people - from Pyotr Aven to Sergei Ivanov, from Viktor Chernomyrdin to Sergei Kiriyenko. The future prime minister had to deal with Vladimir Putin on official matters, but it is obvious: his biography does not correspond well with the rest of the president’s associates.
And yet. More than two years ago, on December 7, 2001, the following message appeared on the website apn.ru:
" The director of the Federal Tax Police Service (FSNP) of Russia, Mikhail Fradkov, is considered by the “Leningrad team” of President Vladimir Putin as one of the possible candidates for the post of head of the federal government. A source in the apparatus of the Security Council of the Russian Federation told APN.
Mikhail Fradkov, 50, became close to the “Leningrad team” between June 2000 and March 2001, when he worked as deputy secretary of the Security Council under the direct supervision of Putin’s close friend Sergei Ivanov, now defense minister. On March 28, 2001, Fradkov - as part of an operation to infiltrate people especially close to Putin into the security forces - replaced Vyacheslav Soltaganov as the country's chief tax policeman. According to the APN source, Putin and his wards on the “Leningrad team” are attracted by the versatile personality, skills and knowledge of Mikhail Fradkov: another potential successor to Mikhail Kasyanov worked for more than 20 years in the system of the ministries of foreign trade and foreign economic relations of the USSR and the Russian Federation, in 1999 - 2001 served as Russia's Minister of Trade, and then delved into the world of intelligence services, where he unexpectedly found himself on the board. In fact, Fradkov can be seen as a compromise figure, combining the merits of an economist, a refined international affairs specialist and a policeman."
For readers uninitiated in Internet affairs, it should be explained that the APN website, which is currently on sabbatical, is, by and large, a “combat leaflet” of the recently famous political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky. It should also be mentioned that among the clients of both the site and the political scientist himself are the special services, part of the presidential administration, as well as the so-called. “London”, that is, Mr. Elenin’s comrades.
Mr. Belkovsky himself apparently did not pay due attention to the publications of more than two years ago, since, speaking in the press and on TV in recent days, he named the names of many candidates for the post of prime minister, but never mentioned Mikhail Fradkov.
This is on the one hand. On the other hand, it would be frivolous to assume that the president, tormented by personnel shortages and insomnia, wandered the Internet at night or made a request by typing the keywords “candidate for the post of prime minister,” “Leningrad team,” “successor of Mikhail Kasyanov,” and - eureka ! -- the computer issued the above note.
We are considering a conspiracy theory. This means that there is reason to believe that the publication of December 2001 had some basis. Moreover, we can say that Mikhail Fradkov’s track record looks even more convincing today. He has developed “excellent relations” with the European Union and personally with Romano Prodi. And this is against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between the EU and Russia (however, as one well-known political strategist notes, this is due to internal problems in Russia and internal problems of the EU, which even Mr. Fradkov is unable to cope with). And his previous experience as a tax policeman looks in a special light, taking into account the new relations between the state and the Yukos Oil Company, as well as the prospects emerging from these relations.
Sources of the Vremya Novostei newspaper in the Kremlin confirm the closeness of the future prime minister to the group of “St. Petersburg security officers,” and his career in Soviet times suggests inevitable long-term contacts with state security agencies. The candidate, in other words, is not random. Moreover, conspiracy theories require the assumption that Mr. Fradkov had long been prepared for a responsible post, while the president, true to his word, was waiting for the end of the contract with Mikhail Kasyanov. Ivan GORDEEV, Elena KOSTOCHKINA |
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