- Title: FILE/RUSSIA: Vladimir Putin in bid to return to the Kremlin as President in 2012
- Date: 25th September 2011
- Summary: NOVOROSSIYSK, RUSSIA (AUGUST 29, 2011) (REUTERS) RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER VLADIMIR PUTIN AND MOTORBIKERS RIDE ONTO QUAYSIDE IN FRONT OF AUDIENCE CROWD CHEERING PUTIN WALKS ONSTAGE CROWD CHEERING PUTIN ON STAGE VARIOUS OF FESTIVAL ROCK SHOW ON BOARD BATTLESHIP
- Embargoed: 10th October 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA7OD60BEFSXPCVIRHZCMVOY5QV
- Story Text: Vladimir Putin accepted on Saturday (September 24) a proposal from President Dmitry Medvedev to run for Russia's highest office in the 2012 presidential election.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born on Oct. 7, 1952, in Leningrad -- now St Petersburg -- to working-class parents.
As a boy Putin took judo lessons and dreamt about joining the KGB, the Soviet Union's powerful security service. He studied law at St Petersburg State University and went to work for the KGB after graduating in 1975.
Putin was a spy in Dresden in Soviet satellite East Germany from 1985 to 1990, giving him a front-seat view of the collapse of the Soviet empire. Its decline was to have a lasting impact on Putin, who later spoke about how he asked for orders from Moscow in 1989 but "Moscow was silent".
President Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the KGB, in 1998 and in March 1999 he was given added responsibility as secretary of Russia's presidential Security Council.
Putin was made prime minister in August 1999 and was instrumental in launching a new war against Chechen separatists that increased his popularity.
Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned on Dec. 31, 1999, making Putin acting president. Putin was elected to a four-year term as president on March 26, 2000, winning just under 53 percent of the vote, according to the official count.
Putin was re-elected on March 14, 2004, with 71.3 percent of the vote.
As president, Putin sought to end the chaos which was the hallmark of post-Soviet Russia and he presided over the longest Russian economic boom in a generation, fuelled by high market prices for oil.
Supporters credit Putin with bringing order and improving life for many Russians. Critics say he rolled back democracy and stifled freedoms of the post-Soviet era, and contend that his top-down style of government has done nothing to curb the corruption and government negligence.
During Putin's presidency, Russian nominal gross domestic product (GDP) grew from $200 billion in 1999 to $1.5 trillion in 2008 prices while the average monthly income grew from 1,500 roubles in 2000 to 15,000 roubles.
Facing a constitutional bar on a third straight presidential term, Putin tapped Dmitry Medvedev as his favoured successor, ensuring his victory in the March 2008 presidential election.
Putin was sworn in as prime minister a day after Medvedev's inauguration. On the next day he took the helm of United Russia, the ruling party that holds 315 seats in the 450-member State Duma lower parliament house and dominates government nationwide.
Despite nominally being second in command, Putin remained the dominant member of what Russian officials call a ruling
"tandem" with President Medvedev.
During his years in power Putin has cultivated an action-man image with a series of stunts such as flying a supersonic jet, riding bare-chested on horseback or sitting astride a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
At a congress of his United Russia party on Sept. 24, Medvedev proposed Putin run for president. Putin said it was a great honour.
As Russia's most popular politician, Putin is almost certain to win a newly extended six-year term. He could also then run for another term from 2018 to 2024, a quarter of a century since he rose to power in late 1999. He would turn 72 on Oct. 7, 2024. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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