Nikolai Zlobin, director of Russian and Asian programs at the Institute for World Security in Washington, writing in the Moscow Times:
During his perfunctory election campaign, President Dmitry Medvedev made no mention of the need to modernize Russia, nor did he promise to become a popular video blogger or to set any world records for compassion by providing apartments to World War II veterans. No, Medvedev called for a battle against corruption and promised to do so much in establishing law and order that everyone would understand that he was not just keeping the presidential seat warm until Prime Minister Vladimir Putin returned to it in 2012.
Russians — tired of small-scale corruption that has become a way of life and daily injustice on the part of government officials — were ready to believe the anti-corruption pluck of the young leader who promised to “finally put an end” to the problem.
However, Medvedev’s call to battle corruption has gone unheeded. All surveys, statistics and personal observations indicate that, during Medvedev’s 18 months in office, corruption has actually increased. Now the question is: Will Medvedev continue just talking about the problem or is he prepared to finally take action?
After all, Medvedev is not only the president of all Russians — he is the leader of all bureaucrats, who act as his representatives at every level government. He is the only person in the country who has the power to remove anybody at any time. Why, then, doesn’t Medvedev change the criteria for measuring success from governors’ and mayors’ ability to finagle high election results for United Russia to their ability to control corruption? He could fire a dozen or so local leaders as a signal to the others. Many ministries suffer from high levels of corruption. The fact that Medvedev has yet to remove any of the most flagrantly corrupt officials speaks volumes.
Russia should not follow the Western model for fighting corruption. In those countries, corruption is the exception, and is dealt with by the criminal justice system like any other crime. In Russia, corruption has become so widespread that it is undermining both the state and the economy and is creating a deep distrust toward all authorities, including the president. In Russia, corruption is not a criminal but a political program, with rigged elections being the clearest example. A single party’s monopoly on power coupled with the absence of a free media is a classic breeding ground for corruption.
Any official who attempts to influence a judge’s decision should be considered a state criminal. A country in which corrupt officials channel their illicit wealth into their wives’ bank accounts to escape punishment and where entire families are listed on the payrolls of ministries is incapable of developing or modernizing. It is impossible to overcome the legal nihilism of the Russian people as long as the only law that the president, prime minister and the people generally obey is the need to stop at a red light.
Medvedev’s comment regarding Soviet leader Josef Stalin that “the ruling authority should be honest” would be better applied to his own conduct and that of his subordinates. Any unfettered corrupt official instantly makes the president appear dishonest in the eyes of the people. Are we to believe that Medvedev is honest and incorruptible and that he will fulfill his promise to modernize the country just like he has fulfilled his promise to fight corruption and establish the rule of law?
La Russophobe 
Der Spiegel has interviewed Medvedyev and Yuschenko separately and. I must say did a good job.
SPIEGEL: The post-Soviet legacy also includes relations to other former Soviet republics. In accordance with your instructions, there is currently no Russian ambassador in Ukraine, and you are regularly engaged in disputes with Belarus. Why do you constantly try to solve problems with your neighbors with strong-arm tactics?
Medvedev: Are there no problems between EU countries? Germany also has problems with its neighbors. We are therefore no exception.
SPIEGEL: To say that an ambassador will only be sent when another country’s president has been toppled — that’s really a pretty unique stance in Europe.
Medvedev: Many things are unique in this world. All of these difficulties have been created by just one man — the current president of Ukraine. He is guided by anti-Russian ideas, and no compromises can be achieved with him. Everything that he has done over the past four years has been aimed at disrupting bilateral relations. He has breached economic agreements, he tries to rewrite history and he has expelled a number of Russian diplomats from the country. That was an unfriendly act that requires a robust reaction. Presidential elections will soon be held in Ukraine. I sincerely hope that politicians will come to power there who are more pragmatic in their approach to Russia. Then there will be a Russian ambassador in Kiev again.
SPIEGEL: That sounds as if the conflict between Ukraine and Russia could take a dramatic turn.
Medvedev: There is no conflict between our countries. Our peoples are brothers, linked by close relations and solid economic ties. Despite the crisis, we trade goods worth billions of dollars.
SPIEGEL: But are we in for a new round of the annual natural gas war? …
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,660114,00.html
(Moscow has tripled the price of Gas for Ukraine in three years and, has stipulated the volumes that Ukraine must buy from Moscow. The price has remained the same for gas transit of $1.7 USD to transit 1000 cubic meters for Ten years. In Slovakia this transit costs $4.5, in Austria close to $6, in Denmark almost $12-in Ukraine $1.7. according to Yuschenko
The problem as I, Georg, understand is a decline in industrial usage, and separate sources have been found for Europe (LNG) and Norwegians increased production. Germany has topped up its reserves to 98% already. Europe uses only 20% of Moscal Gas shipped through Ukraine, which transits 80% of Gasprom deliveries. Rooshan Kaktsaps now can’t get blood out of a turnip. If Moscals cut off Ukraine then the Nordstream and Southstream won’t get built, as Europe would trust Moscali even less than now. No new drilling technology projects that are needed for Moscali to get the remaining harder to get to oil now in the ground.
Medvedyev is choking his chicken, and bluffing though sometimes he resorts to assassinations and murderous invasions if someone is small or weak enough. Like the cancer that is Roosha. Yea “we be brothers”.
From Yuschenkos POV…read on
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,647401,00.html
The article states that Medvedev “is the only person in the country who has the power to remove anybody at any time ” and that he “could fire a dozen or so local leaders as a signal to the others.”
This is surprising to me. Don’t they have independent agencies? Mr. Obama cannot fire the CIA director, or the FBI director, or the Fed Chairman, before their terms have expired; nor can he fire any sitting judge, etc. etc.
And even more surprising about those local leaders. Don’t they independently elect mayors, or governors (whatever they call them) and such?
So much for democracy in Russia, if these facts in the article are correct…
After all, Medvedev is not only the president of all Russians — he is the leader of all bureaucrats, who act as his representatives at every level government. He is the only person in the country who has the power to remove anybody at any time. Why, then, doesn’t Medvedev change the criteria for measuring success from governors’ and mayors’ ability to finagle high election results for United Russia to their ability to control corruption? He could fire a dozen or so local leaders as a signal to the others. Many ministries suffer from high levels of corruption. The fact that Medvedev has yet to remove any of the most flagrantly corrupt officials speaks volumes.
Step 1: Remove prime minister.
Step 2: Hold free elections.
You are joking, aren’t you?
If he removes a pm… how many minutes will he last outside of jail? Pukins generals will hang his midget ass on the Kremlin wall…
Medvedev has the power to end corruption as explained in the article, but he won’t for these reasons.
The average salary paid in Russia is not enough to support a family, Russians on average earn less than $100 per week but pay the same price for consumer goods as we do in the west, Their energy is subsidised at the moment, but the government has stated that Russians must begin to prepare themselves, because soon they will have to pay market prices, The state stopped building affordable housing a long time ago focusing on expensive property for the rich. This policy has led to acute overcrowding for the poor,
This all means that most Russians rely on low level corruption to survive, Police taking bribes from motorists, Hospital workers asking for “gifts” from patients relatives to ensure they get the care needed, Teachers being paid to give a child some extra attention, A friend of mine told me recently that they paid an examination board member 10,000 roubles to allow their rather lazy daughter the use of a mobile phone while sitting a collage mathematics examination the girl’s parents had arranged for a teacher to be on the other end of the phone ready to give the answers. It is also common knowledge that even in Russia’s most prestigious university the Moscow state a degree can be bought if you have the cash.
Medvedev has more than just corruption to fight he has a long established Russian tradition which most of the population see nothing wrong with. Cheating is in their blood.
I wonder if one buys a degree, would he get just a forged diploma, or would the degree appear genuine (i.e., accompanied by official records at a university, and so on), so that in case of an inquiry, it would be recognized as a true degree.
If the former, then that’s no such a big deal, but just an indication of the existence of a criminal network of forgers. I believe those exist in every country. Everybody in Southern California knows that there are places in Los Angeles where you can buy any document from any country, a passport, a green card, a driver’s license, a visa, anything; for quite a reasonable price I may add.
But if the latter is true, then it’s truly an ominous sign of official corruption.
Lets just be honest and end this. Medvedev is NOBODY! END OF STORY! He has no power, no strength, no skills, no education, no courige to do anything, because he is officially appointed bureaucrat. Appointed by Mr.Pukin till 2012. Mr.Pukin choce him welll. WTF? DO YOU REALLY THINK that Mr. Pukin could have gottin this wrong? After all THIS was his MAIN problem of his last years in the office… and he chose a very weak person… Dima Medvedev.
I agree that Medvedev is weak and hardly can do anything. Putin can show an alternative to Russians through Medvedev. If Medvedev is somewhat successful, Putin can continue that, if the alternative proves unable to keep Russians calm and quiet, Putin can end the alternative like for ever.
Medvedev is like Putin’s alternative ego, second virtual life, antipode which serves Putin’s agenda or agenda of those who stand behind Putin. They are in trouble, the crisis put them in trouble and they are trying to keep Russians quiet. I have no idea what and how may happen in Russia now, but I fear things won’t change calmly and nicely.
RV, about diplomas. It’s the latter. They go slowly through the whole process. Are “accepted”, then “study” and when years go by or, if needed, “when years go by” they get perfectly right and real diplomas.
I was told that 100% of the students in Abkhazia and Chechnya received 100% on their college entrance exams, and therefore they are going to school in moscow?
Also, genuine diplomas are sold in the moscow subway.
Truly unbelievable
Hi RV I was going to give you a better explanation over the degree fraud but others have already got there before me.
RV Russian qualifications are seen as a joke in Europe they are not recognised. In Britain Russians must retrain and receive British certificates if they wish to follow say a medical or legal profession here.
The Russian elite know this and are queuing up to send their sons and daughters to English public schools, colleges and then universities where they can gain qualifications respected throughout the world.
The problem for Russia is they have Doctors, Lawyers, engineers, Teachers all running around with bogus qualifications with no in-depth knowledge of the profession they serve a recipe for disaster in my view.