PUTIN AN ENIGMA TO UZBEKISTANI CITIZENS

The people of Uzbekistan hold widely varied
views about Russia’s newly elected president Vladimir Putin. On one point, however
they all agree. Putin represents an enigma to everyone. Until now Uzbekistan has numerous
ties with Russia, so it's not surprising, that Putin's election as President of Russia is
of considerable interest for the Uzbekistan people. Russians that live in Uzbekistan
expect that Putin will make Russia a respected country once again, and believe that Uzbek
attitudes toward the Russians in Uzbekistan will improve significantly with Putin’s
rise. Many Russians in Uzbekistan who wanted to emigrate to Russia but were deterred by
its poor economic situation and disorder, hope that Putin will improve conditions there
that will enable them to do so.

Lyudmila, 37 years old, sales woman, Uzbekistani Russian: "People know very
little about Putin, but he brings hope for Russians and this is the source of his
strength. People think that he will make Russia stronger, restore order, tackle Russia's
economic woes. People like that Putin is an energetic person. Although Yeltsin and Boris
Berezovskiy are responsible for Putin's election, I think that Putin owes very little to
them. He behaves like an independent person.

Anton, 28 years old, computer specialist, Uzbekistani Russian: "A few
months ago I acquired Russian citizenship and I voted in the Russian presidential
elections in the Russian Embassy in in Tashkent. I cast my ballot for Yavlinskiy. I do not
like Putin because he started another war in Chechnya. I would prefer him to negotiate
with the Chechens or agree to their independence. Essentially, Putin’s popularity is
based on the Chechnya war. He had been appointed to the position of acting president about
6 months ago and during this time he did not undertake any noticeable actions to improve
Russian economy. Oil prices have been high during his time in office, which has bought a
semblance of stability to the Russian economy. But if prices fall considerably, all the
troubles of the recent past will return instantly. Putin did not even find a time to
address the extremely urgent issue of decreasing taxes. In fact he did not say anything
clear about his economic program at all.

Bakhrom, 26 years old, entrepreneur, Uzbek: "At least Russia now has a
healthy person at the helm. Yeltsin was too sick to cope with his duties. Putin seems to
be determined to put Russia in order and improve its economy and this may help us with
development of Uzbekistan. Our government tried to establish strong economic ties with the
USA, Western Europe, Japan and South Korea, but has not succeeded. Our largest foreign
investor, the Korean firm DAEWOO Corporation, went bankrupt and drastically cuts its
presence in Uzbekistan. Anyway, Uzbekistan is closer to Russia geographically compared to
Germany or the USA. Some people fear that Putin will try to restore the Soviet Union but I
don't believe that it's possible. We have been are an independent country for almost nine
years. But many Uzbekistani citizens are irritated with the situation in Uzbekistan,
deplore the collapse of Soviet Union, and want to see us return to communist rule."

Anonymous, Tashkent, Uzbekistan