Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (Бори́с Никола́евич Е́льцин (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was the first Presidena of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.
Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet. On 12 June 1991 he was elected by popular vote to the newly created post of President of the Russian (SFSR), at that time one of the 15 constituent republics of the Soviet Union. He won 57% of the vote in a six-candidate contest and became the second democratically elected leader of Russia in history. Upon the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev and the final dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991, Yeltsin remained in office as the President of the Russian Federation, the USSR's successor state. Yeltsin was reelected in the 1996 election; in the second round of the election Yeltsin defeated Gennady Zyuganov from the revived Communist Party by a margin of 13%. However, Yeltsin never recovered his early popularity after a series of economic and political crises in Russia in the 1990s.
He vowed to transform Russia's socialist command economy into a free market economy nd implemented economic shock therapy, price liberalization and privatization programs. Due to the method of privatization, a good deal of the national wealth fell into the hands of a small group of oligarchs. Much of the Yeltsin era was marked by widespread corruption, inflation, economic collapse and enormous political and social problems that affected Russia and the other former states of the USSR. Within the first few years of his presidency, many of Yeltsin's political supporters turned against him and Vice President Alexander Rutskoy denounced the reforms as "economic genocide".
Ongoing confrontations with the Supreme Soviet climaxed in of the parliament, which then attempted to remove Yeltsin from office. The military eventually sided with Yeltsin and besieged and shelled the Russian White House, resulting in the deaths of 187 people. Yeltsin then scrapped the exiting constitution, temporarily banned political opposition and deepened his economic experimentation. He then introduced a new constitution with stronger presidential power and it was approved by referendum on 12 December 1993 with 58.5% of voters in favour.
On 31 December 1999, Yeltsin made a surprise announcement of his resignation, leaving the presidency in the hands of his chosen successor, then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Yeltsin left office widely unpopular with the Russian population. By some estimates, his approval ratings when leaving office were as low as 2%.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born October 7 1952 , Leningrad , USSR ) - Russian statesman and political figure, from May 8 2008 - Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation . The second president of the Russian Federation from May 72000 on May 7th 2008 (after the resignation of President Boris Yeltsin performing his duties in December 31 1999 to May 7 2000 ). At the State Duma elections in 2007 Putin headed the electoral list of a political party "United Russia" , while remaining non-partisan. In September 24 2011 at the suggestion of Russia's third president , Dmitry Medvedev became the candidate of "United Russia" in the 2012 presidential elections .December 31 , 1999 in connection with the early departure of Yeltsin's resignation Putin became acting president of the Russian Federation. The same day, Putin had given the symbols of presidential power, including the "nuclear briefcase " . The first act of state, signed by Putin and the post. about. President of Russia, was the decree " On guarantees of the Russian Federation president, stopped exercising his authority, and members of his family . " The decree provided the former Russian president (at the time this was the only Boris Yeltsin) guarantees of immunity.
On March 26th 2000 , President-elect Russia . He assumed office on May 7 2000 .
In May 2000 he was appointed Prime Minister of RussiaMikhail Kasyanov.
February 24 2004 sacked the government of Mikhail Kasyanov, calling his work "generally satisfactory" . The new chairman of the government wasMikhail Fradkov .
March 14 2004 was elected president of the Russian Federation for a second term . He assumed office on May 7 2004 .
September 12 2007 sacked Mikhail Fradkov , appointing the head of government Viktor Zubkov
May 7 2008 handed over power to President-elect, former head of his administration , Dmitry Medvedev . A few days before the Putin took 2nd place in the list of Time «100 most influential people of the world" .
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On March 26th 2000 , President-elect Russia . He assumed office on May 7 2000 .
In May 2000 he was appointed Prime Minister of RussiaMikhail Kasyanov.
February 24 2004 sacked the government of Mikhail Kasyanov, calling his work "generally satisfactory" . The new chairman of the government wasMikhail Fradkov .
March 14 2004 was elected president of the Russian Federation for a second term . He assumed office on May 7 2004 .
September 12 2007 sacked Mikhail Fradkov , appointing the head of government Viktor Zubkov
May 7 2008 handed over power to President-elect, former head of his administration , Dmitry Medvedev . A few days before the Putin took 2nd place in the list of Time «100 most influential people of the world" .
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Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (Дми́трий Анато́льевич Медве́дев, (born 14 September 1965) is the third President of the Russian Federation.
Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint Petersburg State University, where he taught civil and Roman law until 1999. Medvedev's political career began as the election campaign manager and later an adviser of St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak. During this time, Medvedev befriended Vladimir Putin. In November 1999, Medvedev was hired in the Russian presidential administration, where he worked as deputy chief of staff. In the 2000 Presidential elections, Medvedev was Putin's campaign manager. On 14 November 2005, Medvedev was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister and was tasked with overseeing National Priority Projects. . He also worked as the Chairman of Gazprom's board of directors, a post which he held until 2008
On 10 December 2007, Medvedev was informally endorsed as a candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections by four political parties: United Russia, Fair Russia, Agrarian Party of Russia and Civilian Power, and was officially endorsed by United Russia on 17 December 2007. Medvedev's candidacy was backed by the popular outgoing President Vladimir Putin, giving a significant boost to his popularity. The 2008 Presidential elections, held on 2 March 2008, was won by Medvedev with 70.28% of the popular vote, and he was inaugurated on 7 May 2008.
Widely regarded as more liberal than his predecessor, Medvedev's top agenda as President has been a wide-ranging modernization programme, aiming at modernising Russia's economy and society, and lessening the country's reliance on oil and gas. During Medvedev's tenure, Russia emerged victorious in the 2008 South Ossetia war and recovered from the late 2000s recession.. Recognising corruption as one of Russia's most severe problems, Medvedev has launched an anti-corruption campaign and initiated a substantial law enforcement reform.. In foreign policy, his main achievements include the signing of the New START treaty, a "reset" of the Russia – United States relations which were severely strained following Russia's war with Georgia, as well as increasing Russia's cooperation with the BRICS- counries.
In September 2011, Medvedev stated he would not run for a second term as Russian President in 2012.
