Dmitry Medvedev - New President of Russia

So the new President of Russia for the next 4 years is Dmitry Medvedev. He gathered almost 70% of votes in Russia today, March 2, on the Russian President's Elections Day. But who is this politician?



Dmitry Medvedev was born September 14, 1965 in Leningrad (St.Petersbourg). He graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. In 1990 he worked in Leningrad Municipal Soviet of People's Deputies. Between 1991 and 1999 he worked as a docent at his old university, now renamed Saint Petersburg State University. In 1991 - 1996 Medvedev also worked as a legal expert for the Committee for External Relations of the Saint Petersburg Mayor's Office under Vladimir Putin.

In November 1993, Medvedev became the legal affairs director of Ilim Pulp Enterprise, a St. Petersburg-based timber company. In 1998, he was elected a member of the board of directors of the Bratskiy LPK paper mill. He worked for Ilim Pulp until 1999.

In November of 1999 he became one of several St.Petersburgers brought by Vladimir Putin to top government positions in Moscow. In December of the same year he was appointed deputy head of the presidential staff. Dmitri Medvedev became one of the politicians closest to President Putin, and during the 2000 elections he was head of the presidential election campaign headquarters.

From 2000 to 2001, Medvedev was chair of Gazprom's board of directors. He was then deputy chair from 2001 to 2002. In June of 2002, Medvedev became chair of Gazprom's board of directors for a second time. In October 2003, he replaced Alexander Voloshin as presidential chief of staff. He was appointed first deputy prime minister of the Russian government on November 14, 2005.

On December 10, 2007, he was informally endorsed as a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections by the largest Russian political party, United Russia, and officially endorsed on December 17, 2007. Medvedev's candidacy was massively supported by former president Vladimir Putin and pro-presidential parties.

A mild-mannered person, Dmitry Medvedev is considered to be a moderate liberal pragmatic, an able administrator and a loyalist of Putin.

Dimitri Medvedev is married and has a son named Ilya, 12 y.o. His wife, Svetlana Medvedeva, was both his childhood friend and school sweetheart. They wed several years after their graduation from secondary school in 1982.

Medvedev has often represented himself as a devoted fan of hard rock, listing Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin as his favourite bands. He is a collector of their original vinyl records. Among his hobbies are reading the works of Mikhail Bulgakov, and following his hometown professional soccer team, FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. He keeps an aquarium in his office and cares for his fish himself.
Medvedev stands tiny 162 centimetres (5'4") in height and is even smaller than Putin.
CREDIT: Wikipedia