Monday, on my way back from Sheremetovo airport, I heard the news that good old Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was no longer among us. I must say, I was surprised he lasted this long, given the fact he had a quintuple heart bypass operation in November 1996 and a serious drinking problem.
So how will he be remembered? Two images come to my mind: one of Yeltsin on a tank in front of the White House in Moscow during the coup in August 1991. This was admittedly the highpoint in his career. His popularity rose rapidly and he managed to outplay Gorbachev, dissolving the Soviet Union and becoming the first president of an independent Russia. The fact that he managed to avoid significant bloodshed during the dissolution of the Soviet Union will be remembered as a remarkable feat. His brave decision to enact painful, but much needed economic reforms in 1992 is a second major accomplishment.
The second image of Yeltsin is less positive, albeit it a funny one at the same time. This involves good old Boris, obviously drunk, getting his groove on at a rock concert in 1996 and pinching a woman's ass. By that time, his reputation had been damaged by his order to the army to target the White House in Moscow in October 1993 during an uprising by the parliament, his decision to invade Chechnya in 1994, his drinking bouts and faltering health. But most importantly, he refused to play by the rules in a democracy during the presidential elections in 1996. Despite a faltering health and trailing the leader of the Communist Party Zyuganov by miles in the polls, he decided to stand for a new term in office. He financed his campaign by gathering support among powerful Russian businessmen in his infamous 'loans for shares' deal. Yeltsin won the elections, but by the time he resigned in 1999 (months before presidential elections were to be held, effectively making sure his chosen heir Vladimir Putin would win them) his reputation had plummeted and he had launched a second war in Chechnya.
This view is reflected in the way people all over the world have reacted to his death. On the one hand, he is hailed as a great leader, while on the other hand his faults are also mentioned. I tend to adhere to the latter view. His legacy of a disenchantment with regards to democracy among the Russian people will prove a serious problem in the process of the development of a mature democracy (albeit of a specific Russian variety and hence not a democracy like we know it in the West).
I know I wouldn't, but a previously unknown firm called Prana (a cover for probably Gazprom) did on Friday in a fierce auction for what were the last assets for what was once the largest Russian oil company Yukos. The picture is that of its former headquarters. Prana outbidded Rosneft in an auction which lasted nearly three hours. Some sources suggest the figure was this high as the remaining assets may include oil inventories and billions in cash.
