Incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin has made numerous impressive achievements during his two terms including the consolidation of the Kremlin's power and the marked improvement of economy, analysts say.
Dmitry Medvedev, first deputy prime minister of Putin's cabinet, has won Russia's fifth presidential election, according to the preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC) Monday.
During his eight-year rule as president, Putin has made many contributions to Russia and has been very popular among Russians.
His most impressive achievement is the consolidation of the Kremlin's power by the building of "power vertical," an authority tree to take decision-making rights back to the root, namely the central government, and to save the then largely dysfunctional state from falling apart.
Shortly after Putin's victory in the 2000 presidential election, he mounted a drive to sideline the governors who had wielded considerable power under his predecessor, late President Boris Yeltsin.
In June 2000, Putin deprived governors and regional legislature speakers of their seats in the Federation Council, the upper house of the parliament, and the immunity from prosecution that came with them.
Also in 2000, Putin set up seven "super districts" over Russia's 89 federal regions. Each of them were overseen by a presidential envoy to make sure the regions under each district obeyed federal law.
He even pushed through a new tax code to gather most tax revenues for the federal government which will then redistribute the money among the regions.
