Vladimir Putin

Prime Minister of Russia
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 May 2008

President Dmitry Medvedev

Deputy Viktor Zubkov
Igor Shuvalov

Preceded by Viktor Zubkov

In office
9 August 1999 – 7 May 2000

President Boris Yeltsin

Preceded by Sergei Stepashin

Succeeded by Mikhail Kasyanov

President of Russia
In office
7 May 2000 – 7 May 2008
Acting: 31 December 1999 – 7 May 2000

Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov
Viktor Khristenko (Acting)
Mikhail Fradkov
Viktor Zubkov

Preceded by Boris Yeltsin

Succeeded by Dmitry Medvedev

Chairman of United Russia
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2008

Preceded by Boris Gryzlov

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union State
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 May 2008

Preceded by Position established

Born 7 October 1952 (age 57)
Leningrad, Soviet Union
( now Saint Petersburg, Russia)

Political
party United Russia (2008–present)[1]

Other political
affiliations Communist Party of the Soviet Union (before 1991)
Independent (1991–2008)

Spouse(s) Lyudmila Putina

Children Mariya, Yekaterina

Alma mater Leningrad State University

Religion Russian Orthodox

Signature

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin IPA born 7 October 1952 was the second President of Russia and is the current Prime Minister of Russia as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when president Boris Yeltsin resigned in a surprising move, and then Putin won the 2000 presidential election. In 2004, he was re-elected for a second term lasting until 7 May 2008.
Due to constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive Presidential term. After the victory of his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, in the 2008 presidential elections, he was then nominated by the latter to be Russia’s Prime Minister; Putin took the post on 8 May 2008.
Throughout his presidential terms and into his second term as Prime Minister, Putin has enjoyed high approval ratings amongst the Russian public. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing the rule of law.[2] During his eight years in office, due to strong macroeconomic management, important fiscal policy reforms and a confluence of high oil prices, surging capital inflows, and access to low-cost external financing,[3] Russia’s economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase sixfold (72% in PPP),[4][5] poverty cut more than half[6][7][8] and average monthly salaries increase from $80 to $640, or by 150% in real rates.[4][9] Analysts have described Putin’s economic reforms as impressive.[10][11] During his presidency, Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13 percent, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes.[10][12] At the same time, his conduct in office has been questioned by domestic political opposition, foreign governments and human rights organizations for leading the Second Chechen War, for his record on internal human rights and freedoms, and for his alleged bullying of the former Soviet Republics. A new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia’s economy - such as Gennady Timchenko, Vladimir Yakunin, Yuriy Kovalchuk, Sergey Chemezov, all with close personal ties to Putin - emerged according to media reports.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Early life

Putin was born on 7 October 1952 in Leningrad, USSR (now Saint Petersburg, Russia),[20] to parents Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911–1999) and Maria Ivanovna Shelomova (1911–1998). His mother was a factory worker, and his father was a conscript in the Soviet Navy, where he served in the submarine fleet in the early 1930s,[21] subsequently serving with the NKVD in a sabotage group during World War II.[22] Two elder brothers were born in the mid–1930s; one died within a few months of birth, while the second succumbed to diphtheria during the siege of Leningrad. His paternal grandfather, Spiridon Ivanovich Putin (1879–1965) was employed at Vladimir Lenin’s dacha at Gorki as a cook, and after Lenin’s death in 1924, he continued to work for Lenin’s wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya. He would later cook for Joseph Stalin when the Soviet leader visited one of his dachas in the Moscow region. Spiridon later was employed at a dacha belonging to the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, at which the young Putin would visit him.[23] His autobiography, Ot Pervogo Litsa, (English: In the First Person)[21] which is based on Putin’s interviews, speaks of humble beginnings, including early years in a communal apartment in Leningrad. On 1 September 1960 he started at School No. 193 at Baskov Lane, just across from his house. By fifth grade he was one of a few in a class of more than 45 pupils who was not yet a member of the Pioneers, largely because of his rowdy behavior. In sixth grade he started taking sport seriously in the form of sambo and then judo. In his youth, Putin was eager to emulate the intelligence officer characters played on the Soviet screen by actors such as Vyacheslav Tikhonov and Georgiy Zhzhonov.
Putin graduated from the International Law branch of the Law Department of the Leningrad State University in 1975, writing his final thesis on international law.[24] While at university he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and remained a member until the party was dissolved in December 1991.[25] Also at the University he met Anatoly Sobchak, who later played important role in Putin’s career.[citation needed]