Dmitry Medvedev, who was elected as Russia's new president, will face many tough challenges during his term, analysts say.
Medvedev, first deputy prime minister of outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin's cabinet, has won the country's fifth presidential election, according to the preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC) Monday.
Despite his impressive victory in the election, Medvedev is confronted with many challenges and difficulties during his upcoming four-year presidential term, observers note.
Russia's economy, which has registered rapid and steady growth during Putin's eight-year rule, still needs to be improved in many aspects.
Effective strategies and measures should be adopted to shift the economy's drive from energy and weapons exports to innovation and exports of other products.
Moreover, the Russian government has to curb the high inflation, which endangers the country's reforms by gulping down Russians' income growth.
The executive and legal branches, which critics say have been eroded by rampant bureaucratism and corruption, also should be brought into better administration and operation.
"We must also enter into a real battle, a difficult battle, against the serious disease that has infected our society – corruption. We need to draw up and carry out a special national anti-corruption plan," Medvedev said in a speech on February 15.
Meanwhile, Medvedev also needs to mend Russia's relations with the West and some neighboring countries, which have soured over a variety of issues ranging from gas price disputes, the planned US missile shield deployment in Poland and the Czech Republic to the NATO's intended expansion which would blanket Russia's neighbors.
