Gifts for Putin up to the lantern What do they give the President of Russia for his 50th birthday? Books, orders, dogs, horses and even Mercedes. But... Putin's fifty dollars The country is approaching its anniversary—President Putin turns 50 on October 7. This nice date in the life of Vladimir Vladimirovich threatens to develop into a colossal problem for all the bureaucratic people of Russia, who are now, on their own initiative, racking their brains over a gift for, excuse me, the head.