Medvedev raps Putin

Sunday, September 23, 2012 - Moscow—Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev offered rare criticism of President Vladimir Putin’s methods of dealing with business leaders on Friday, heightening speculation of a growing rift between Russia’s top two rulers. In a speech at a showcase business forum in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Medvedev referred to an incident in 2008 when Putin, then serving as prime minister, promised to “send a doctor and a prosecutor” to the billionaire owner of steel and coal producer Mechel who had been unable to attend an industry meeting because of illness. The comments directed toward Igor Zyuzin came to be known as one of Putin’s harshest attacks ever on a powerful business figure and caused the company’s stock to plummet. “I think that in modern Russia, if we talk about business, unequivocal orders are being made in different ways, let’s say, in proposals to send a doctor in for a cure,” Medvedev said on Friday. “Russian business knows what I mean ... I wish we (would) start learning to live in a different way.” In early 2011, when he was still president, Medvedev appeared to publicly rebuke Putin for comparing Western calls for action on Libya with the medieval Crusades. While cautious, Medvedev’s words on Friday seemed to be one of his first public barbs at Putin since the two swapped jobs in May.—Reuters