Medvedev On the Quiet Spreads Rumours that Sechin – Is Supposedly a Business Partner of Putin

A number of Internet-sites referring to anonymous near-Kremlin sourses announce about sharpening of the backstage struggle for power and influence in the Kremlin. In particular, about the conflict between the nearest companions of Vladimir Putin – Igor Sechin and Dmitry Medvedev. An old square is full now with talks around Sechin’s calling Medvedev “half-sucessor” implying that Medvedev will never get Putin’s post.

The name of the sucessor will clarify itself, these are supposedly Sechin’s words, in the middle of the year 2007 and to that time Medvedev will shown the lack of talent in fulfilling of national projects which won’t play any significant role in the pre-electoral campaign.

They don’t hide in Sechin’s surrounding that their boss gather a file concerning Medvedev’s mistakes in carrying out national projects, mocks when he sees Medvedev’s visit to the cow-shed on TV. Sechin has been already for a long time keeping a diary on Medvedev’s role in “Gazprom” story and hopes to use it in the appropriate moment.    

They say that Sechin is very furious when he is reported that Medvedev on the quiet spread rumour that Sechin is a business partner of Putin who accumulates means for the present host of the Kremlin and transfers them abroad for a “rainy day” and comfort life after the year 2008. These talks irritate Sechin to the extend that he, ostensibly, threatened that if he would know for sure in Medvedev’s connection to it, then it would be the end of Medvedev’s carrier.

By the way, it should be noticed, that the most active participant in spreading of such rumours is a political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky who is close both to certain circles in FSS and to Boris Beresovsky. They say in Sechin’s surrounding that their boss is also worried about hard times which await Russia: non-stable foreign situation, the USA that are fastening positions on the post-Soviet space creating serious problems to safety. Besides, sharpening of internal situation during pre-election period is inevitable and Putin can back on only indistinct doctrines of liberal figures such as Gaidar or Medvedev but not on the power structures.   

Igor Sechin thinks that the treat that Putin will leave the country to “democrats” is not over bespite the fact that liberals have already showed that the only thing they can do is to destroy and eat away former savings, babble about democracy and freedom of word but not to create. 

Commenting such messages having appeared in Internet our expert – political scientist Vladimir Filin – said present development of situation inside upper strata reminded him of a spring of 1996 “when at the bottom of the throne of Boris Yeltsin a sharp struggle between the power structures headed by Alexander Korzhakov and liberals headed by Boris Beresovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky and Anatoly Chubajs flared up. Everything’s repeating to the small details.

Thus by the time Gusinsky’s mass-meida blamed the group of Korzhakov and in particular the General-Mayor George Rogozin that he was supposedly under the influence of “enchanters”, “hypnotists” and “psychips”.

Recently the name of Rogozin has again come to life on “market” sites “Compromat.ru” and “Stringer” which don’t publish anything for nothing. This time it’s connected with the research institute “Forecast” which once uses to be supervised by the 8th Central Directorate of KGB and GRU and situated on the territory of the leading medical institutions of Leningrad such as, for example, Army Medical College. Now according to the rumours on the “mergering” sites this institution is supervised by Sechin personally.

In the whole the Kremlin liberals, part of power structures in person of Sergey Ivanov having adjoined them and their Western protectors, undoubtedly, are preparing to the “cleaning off” of the power wing in the surrounding of Putin headed by Sechin. In its turn Sechin’s group has proposed no serious counter-measures. On the contrary, it is been losing one position after the other. At that recent retirement of Vladimir Ustinov from the post of the General Public Prosecutor has become the most painful.   

Sechin has no own candidate in sucessor. The only thing he, obviously,  relies on is that hewould persuade Vladimir Putin to stay for the third term. Thus he would like to keep existing to the present day balance in the upper powerful strata. But it’s impossible to foresee he succeeds. The only thing I totally agree with is that the question about the sucessor or the third term will be finally settled down in summer of the comming year but not before. The results are not known by the time even to the president Vladimir Putin”.  

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