Next Kremlin Boss - Joins Cyberspace

Is the next Russian President a computer geek? Perhaps not, be at least he's Web 2.0 savvy.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russian first deputy prime minister, hosted a two hour Internet conference on Monday. Medvedev is the obvious choice to succeed Russian President Vladimir Putin according to most experts, and Medvedev used this opportunity to introduce himself to an audience on the forum normally reserved for Putin himself.

Medvedev is projecting himself as a liberal in his opinions on health care, public schools and real estate development. The form was obviously aimed at younger Russians and the Presidential hopeful even spoke in defense of "Olbansky", a form of Russian jargon that drives traditional Russians crazy, but is popular on the Internet.

He kept silent when asked to comment on his possible succession to the office Putin now holds. Medvedev did say that many variables have to be in place and many events will determine the outcomes of elections. Putin is scheduled to step down in 2008, and has promoted Medvedev in the past.

Medvedev stands in stark contrast to his chief rival for the presidency Sergei Ivanov, who is much more conservative in his views. Ivanov is another first deputy minister and associate of Putin, who opposes higher taxes on real estate development that is designed to allow Russians better housing. In an article from Reuters via Yahoo! News, Ivanov was quoted:

"I think it is not effective today," he said. "We need to develop other mechanisms which could offer the population more stable and attractive investment instruments than real estate."

Medvedev is taking the opposite approach, much like our US counterparts, in what would appear to be a two party ideology (or what I call the "good cop bad cop routine"). Medvedev questioned the need to re-introduce religion classes in schools which has been pushed by the Orthodox Church. He also added a lighter subject in discussing the "Olbansky" jargon issue:

 "An alternative Russian language, no matter how some may take it, is a reality among the Internet audience," he said.

Medvedev is on the board of directors of Gazprom, Russia's largest company and the biggest producer of natural gas in the world. The company accounts for over 90 percent of Russia's natural gas. Gazprom also has the world's third largest oil fields behind only Saudi Arabia and Iran, and exports gas and oil to many surrounding countries.

This comes as no surprise to Americans as we are accustomed to oil and gas people becoming president! I do not know Russian politics like I once did, but I can only hope this familiar trend in bipartisan politics fronted by billionaires leaves the Russian people better off than some of out citizens. It is an interesting bit of news considering the Internet forum however, because I doubt our President would know how or take the time to chat with us.