Friends and neighbours recall Putin heir-apparent Medvedev from old Leningrad days

Future Russian President grew up in safe suburb

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By Jussi Konttinen in St. Petersburg
     
     Russian President Vladimir Putin knew what he was doing when he chose Dmitri Medvedev, 42, as his successor. Biographical information, former neighbours, and former university friends all say the same thing. The next president was quiet and well-behaved already when young.
     The suburb of Kupchino lies something of a distance from the centre of St. Petersburg, and is full of massive apartment houses. Medvedev, the only child in his family, spent his childhood and youth in one of these large buildings.
     
"Dmitri was serious and calm, just like his parents", recalls neighbour Irina Oseyeva.
     The Medvedevs were part of the intelligentsia. His father Anatoli was a teacher at a technical university, and mother Julia worked in a museum.
     "Now the apartment is empty. Medvedev's father is dead, and his mother lives in Moscow", Oseyeva says.
     Living in the neighbouring house was Svetlana Linnik, who was later to become Medvedev's wife. They both attended School No. 305, which is located just a stone's throw away.
     "Dmitri was an ordinary child. The only difference was that he came from a highly educated family. He read much and new many things", said Vera Smirnova, who was his teacher for ten years.
     Smirnova has visited Medvedev in the Kremlin.
     
After school Medvedev made the most important choice of his life. He went to study law at Leningrad University. Teaching him at the Faculty of Law was Anatoli Sobchak, the future Mayor of St. Petersburg.
     His fellow students recall Medvedev's dapper appearance. He always wore a suit and carried a briefcase.
     "There was nothing about him that stood out much. We had much more charismatic types. Medvedev did not take part in common activities. He had his own group. He did not interact with ordinary students", says Yelena Belorukova, a fellow student, in an interview with the Moskovski Komsomolets publication.
     In the military training given to students, it has been reported that Medvedev did not have to endure hazing. Instead, he was part of a privileged group. According to some rumours, Medvedev might have had contacts with the KGB.
     
Medvedev helped Sobchak in his election campaign in 1989. When Sobchak became mayor, Vladimir Putin became head of the city's committee for external relations. Medvedev became his advisor for legal affairs.
     It is at about that time that Medvedev's business activities began. Along with his closest university friends, he set up a company called Uran in 1990, and the Balfort consultancy group four years later.
     In 1993-1999 Medvedev served as the legal affairs director at Ilim Pulp, one of Russia's largest forest industry companies.
     "In Russia a double role as a civil servant and a businessman generally indicates, that the person has worked as a go-between. I believe that during his years in St. Petersburg, Medvedev became a wealthy man", says Dmitri Travin, deputy editor-in-chief of the St. Petersburg weekly Delo.
     When Sobchak lost his bid for re-election in 1997, Putin and Medvedev also left their jobs. Medvedev returned to work for his alma mater, the University of St. Petersburg.
     In 1999, the teacher of Roman Law faced the biggest career move of his life - bounding directly into the Russian government in Moscow.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 13.2.2008


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Poll: Finns wary of prospect of Putin staying in Russian leadership (4.1.2008)
  Finnish FM expects no great changes from Medvedev (11.12.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat