What Putin promised 20 years ago and what he did

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What Putin promised 20 years ago and what he did

In 2000, Vladimir Putin came to power - then still as an official, interim president. What came next

 

 

For Russia, 2000 began a rather unusual event: on New Year's Eve, then-President Boris Yeltsin announced that he was withdrawing for health reasons and surprised by the choice of his successor: formerly known internationally former Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Vladimir Putin , recently elected Prime Minister of the country.

Already on a holiday night, a new year's greetings from the new president were aired on Russian television, in which Putin said: "Dreams come true on New Year's Eve. Even more so on this special night."

Then he invited his countrymen to raise glasses for the new century, writes Mikhail Busheyev for Deutsche Welle.

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At the time, few speculated the extent to which Putin would predetermine events in the next 20 years. His po[CENSORED]rity is just beginning to grow, but most people are not aware of what this former KGB man is capable of and judge him for his promises.

And there are those who remember. Are they fulfilled?

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For a "stronger country"

Even as Prime Minister, Vladimir Vladimirovich wrote in 1999 that he was "in a hurry to bury Russia as a great power" and promised to bring the country back to the international political arena. Even today, Russia is right there - despite Western sanctions and its expulsion from the G8.

Whether it is the crisis in Syria, Ukraine, or the Iranian nuclear program - without Russia it cannot.

Before the 2000 elections, Putin addressed an open letter to Russian voters. In it, he promised that he would make the Russian state stronger and renew the country's army and arms industry.

The strength of a country is not determined by a number such as gross domestic product (GDP), which is why it is so difficult to measure. But there is a consensus both at home and abroad that Russia is stronger today than it was in the 2000s.

Moreover, it is certain that the Russian army is more effective and more modern, and it can even boast some success: in the war with Georgia in 2008, with the occupation of the Crimea peninsula in early 2014 or in Syria since 2015. Rearming the army took several years and cost at least $ 315 billion.

Today, Russia seems more stable than it was in the years of the Chechen War (1994-2009), when many, including Putin himself, feared a possible break-up of the country and some regions even allowed themselves to openly dream of independence.

On the other hand, under Putin's rule, party life is degrading and there will be no regular change of government at the local or federal level to ensure more control.

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"Let's catch up with Portugal"

When Putin took power, the memory of August 1998, when the Russian government declared bankruptcy, was still too fresh. Then many Russians lost their modest savings overnight.

In his keynote speech, before taking office, Putin promised to raise people's standard of living and ensure dynamic economic growth. He had estimated that if GDP grew by an average of about eight percent over the next 15 years, the country would reach the then level of output per capita in Portugal. Or even the UK and France - with annual GDP growth of 10 percent or more.

From that promise, the catch phrase "Let's catch up with Portugal" was born very quickly in Russia. In most cases, it was used ironically, but sometimes seriously, especially in the first years of Putin's rule, when economic growth was quite high: 7.1 percent between 1999 and 2007.

Then the global economic crisis hit Russia, but the shock did not last long. If Russia's GDP amounted to $ 300 billion in 2000, today it is five times higher - $ 1.66 trillion.

For a short time, even the output per capita equaled that of Portugal in 2013. But things have not been going so well since then: Russia still has not been able to catch up with Portugal, which - like Putin himself did not fail to specify in 1999 - is not among the richest EU countries .

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It is a widespread myth that the Russian economy collapsed only after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and subsequent Western sanctions.

Experts, however, explain the halt in Russia's economic growth in 2013 with another, the Russian economic model. Putin had promised to make Russia a commodity-exporting country that relies more on high technology.

But Russia is still dependent on raw material sales to this day. The state budget is affected by fluctuations in world fuel prices.

For a short time, even the output per capita equaled that of Portugal in 2013. But since then things have not been going so well economically