Has Putin Delivered?

BMI View: Recent events in Russia, which have included several high-profile contract killings, an apparent campaign of harassment against Russia's Georgian population, and official pressure on key foreign investors, create a worrying picture of the country as it approaches the crucially important 2007-08 election period. Certainly, the current situation is far from the law and order that President Vladimir Putin promised when he first came to power in 2000, with the authorities themselves frequently the worst transgressors.

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