11/18/2016

Vladimir Putin - Wikipedia

Vladimir Putin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (/putn/; Russian:

; IPA: [vldimr vldimrvt putn],
born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician who is the current
President of the Russian Federation, holding the office since 7
May 2012.[1][2] He was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000,
President from 2000 to 2008, and again Prime Minister from
2008 to 2012.[3] During his second term as Prime Minister, he
was the Chairman of the United Russia Party, the ruling party.[1]
Born in Saint Petersburg, Putin studied German at Saint
Petersburg High School 281, and speaks fluent German.[4][5] He
then studied law at the Saint Petersburg State University,
graduating in 1975.[6] Putin was a KGB foreign intelligence
officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
before retiring in 1991 to enter politics in Saint Petersburg. He
moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin's
administration, rising quickly through the ranks and becoming
Acting President on 31 December 1999, when Yeltsin resigned.
Putin won the subsequent 2000 presidential election by a 53% to
30% margin, thus avoiding a runoff with his Communist Party
opponent, Gennady Zyuganov.[7] He was reelected President in
2004 with 72% of the vote.
During Putin's first presidency, the Russian economy grew for
eight straight years, and GDP measured in purchasing power
increased by 72%.[8][9][10][11][12] The growth was a result of the
2000s commodities boom, high oil prices, and prudent economic
and fiscal policies.[13][14] Because of constitutionally mandated
term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive
presidential term in 2008. The 2008 presidential election was
won by Dmitry Medvedev, who appointed Putin Prime Minister,
beginning a period of so-called "tandemocracy".[15] In
September 2011, after presidential terms were extended from
four to six years,[16] Putin announced he would seek a third term
as president. He won the March 2012 presidential election with
64% of the vote, a result which aligned with pre-election
polling.[17] Falling oil prices coupled with international
sanctions imposed at the beginning of 2014 after Russia's
annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Eastern
Ukraine led to GDP shrinking by 3.7% in 2015.[18][19][20][21]
Putin has enjoyed very high domestic approval ratings during
his career, and received extensive international attention as one
of the world's most powerful leaders. In 2007, he was the Time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin

Vladimir Putin

Putin in May 2015

2nd and 4th President of Russia
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 May 2012
Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov
Dmitry Medvedev
Preceded by

Dmitry Medvedev
In office

7 May 2000 7 May 2008

Acting: 31 December 1999 7 May 2000

Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov

Mikhail Fradkov
Viktor Zubkov
Preceded by

Boris Yeltsin

Succeeded by

Dmitry Medvedev

Prime Minister of Russia

In office
8 May 2008 7 May 2012
President

Dmitry Medvedev

First Deputy

Sergei Ivanov
Viktor Zubkov
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