| President Vladimir Putin yesterday gave his most upbeat assessment yet of Russia's booming economy, but refused to say who will run the world's largest country when he steps down next year. Mr Putin hailed Russia's recent economic achievements and said that under his leadership, wages, living standards and pensions had all gone up. But he conceded that many people in Russia still lived "very, very modestly". His priority until he steps down in March 2008 would be to reduce social inequality, he said. |