when the soviet union receded into history at the end of 1991, it took with it the boris yeltsin was president of the newly formed russian federation. a country that had to create itself from the ground up. it was a wild test time. there were no clear laws, there was a new parliament that was trying to make laws. there was no real system in place. crime was rampant. basic necessities unavailable. and unemployment was widespread. but 39-year-old vladimir putin was a lot better off than many other russians, he had a job. he had befriended an tolly sochat. a leningrad university law
other russians, he had a job. he had befriended an tolly sochat. a leningrad university law professor who became the city s first elected mayor. and appointed put ton his administration. he was just one of the guys who was working with my father. and he came to our home and they wore our clothes but putin was always a workaholic. he didn t like to be in the spotlight. by 1993 put-become deputy mayor of st. petersburg, the city like all of russia, was struggling. boris yeltsin s government of democratic reformers fought to transform a failed state-run economy into a capitalist system. yeltsin initiated the mass privatization program in 1992. to help spur the process. american-born investor bill broader moved to moscow in the mid 1990s and ran hermitage