Posted on 12/12/2005 2:05:17 PM PST by sergey1973
Russia's capital city is a golden egg. The Kremlin aims to seize it in yet another play for power and privilege.
Dec. 19, 2005 issue - Moscow is not merely Russia's capital. It is a treasure chest. The city is home to four fifths of the country's national wealth. It boasts more billionaires than New York or London. Everything and everyone is here: banks, businesses, trade. Whoever rules Moscow, Russians like to say, rules the country.
The undisputed master of Moscow just now is its current mayor, Yuri Luzhkov. For more than a decade he has ruled the city as his personal fiefdom, elevating cronies and squashing rivals, calling the shots on almost any issue of significance and, many say, harvesting a goodly chunk of its wealth. He is also Russia's most popular politician, eclipsing even President Vladimir Putin. Elected by landslides in 1996, 1999 and 2003, he has long made sure that Muscovites get the best of what the country has to offer: the best pensions and health care, the best public transportation, the highest pay for civil servants. Russia may be governed from within the cloistered precincts of the Kremlin walls. But make no mistake: the capital itself is run from city hall.
The question is: for how much longer?
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I wonder if Kremlin attempt to rule the city of Moscow directly will be too much for Putin's Kremlin to swallow. After all, will Muscovites want to listen to Putin's lap dog "elected" as a mayor instead of it's really own mayor ?
i so miss the pidgeons at Krasny Ploschod as well as the clean air..
hello, sergey! I am (slowly) studying Russian and i live in milwaukee- nice to see you! I liked your profile page. :) Here's prayers to Ukraine- i am hoping to travel to eastern europe and stop over in Kyiv next summer. :)
Thanks lawgirl ! Have a great and safe time traveling in Ukraine and E. Europe !
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