A Talk with Putin's Inside Man

Meet the most powerful Kremlin powerbroker you've probably never heard of: Vladislav Surkov, deputy head of Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration. From his fourth-floor office on Moscow's Red Square, Surkov, 38, quietly wheels and deals with business barons, leaders of parliament, regional governors, and pro-Putin political activists. His hand is evident, not least, in Putin's major market-oriented reforms, notably legislation to break up Russia's electricity monopoly that on Oct. 9 won a first vote of approval in the federal Duma.

With Surkov's help, Putin has reasserted the Kremlin's supremacy as the dominant actor in Russia's political life after a decade of challenges from balky governors and law-unto-themselves oligarchs. Surkov is also a guardian and shaper of Putin's public image. The President has no reason to complain about his aide's exertions on that front. Putin enjoys public-approval ratings topping 70%, and no rival has emerged to challenge his expected campaign for reelection in 2004.