Likely next Russian leader is longtime Putin man

By Michael Stott

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Reserved and softly-spoken, Dmitry Medvedev seems an unlikely figure to lead the vast, unruly Russian state. Behind him, however, stands firmly the true power in the land -- his popular mentor, Vladimir Putin.

The land of autocratic Tsars, of Stalin and of the gravel- voiced Boris Yeltsin will now have to get used to a diminutive 42-year-old former law professor from St. Petersburg who prefers technical competence to ideology. He is, for now at least, not likely to eclipse the man many believe brought order to Russia.

In a briefing last month, he praised Putin as a "super-popular leader" and deflected questions about Russia's political direction, saying: "No one knows the future apart from those above us," as he raised his eyes to the ceiling.

Married with one son, Medvedev has a legal background and in his spare time listens to his collection of vinyl records by hard rock bands such as Deep Purple and surfs the Internet.

Putin announced on Monday that the two main pro-Kremlin parties would back Medvedev as his successor, making Medvedev the clear favorite to win a presidential election next March. The constitution bars Putin from standing again.

Medvedev graduated in 1987 from the law faculty of Leningrad State University, the same institution Putin attended before he joined the KGB. The two worked together in the 1990s when Putin was deputy head of the mayor's office in Russia's second city.

Putin took Medvedev with him to Moscow in 1999 when he was named prime minister and then acting president. He first made Medvedev deputy head of the presidential administration, then chairman of the world's largest gas company, the $345 billion colossus Gazprom.

Often dubbed a state within a state, Gazprom's huge clout within Russia and its vast influence abroad gave Medvedev the ideal vehicle for showing his management mettle.

Although Medvedev has a softer, more pro-market image than other Putin allies, Kremlin analysts say his beliefs and policies are molded in his master's image.

Putin made clear when announcing his choice that Medvedev would toe the Kremlin line closely, saying Russia now had a chance to form "an administration that will carry out the same policies that have brought us results for the past eight years."

Medvedev, who projects an image of sober reliability and technical competence rather than charisma or style, has already had ample opportunity to demonstrate his loyalty to Putin.

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As Gazprom chairman, Medvedev imposed big gas price rises on Russia's former Soviet neighbors and masterminded a campaign to force Royal Dutch Shell to sell a controlling stake in a giant natural gas project to Gazprom at a knockdown price.

In a rare appearance before business leaders at the start of this year in Davos, Switzerland -- regarded at the time as a kind of coming-out ceremony with the West -- Medvedev made clear he had little time for criticism of Russia's political system.

"I believe that what we have in Russia is real democracy," he said, before adding that he backed the Kremlin's aim of creating big state champions, particularly in the energy sector.