Yeltsin still powerful despite illness

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, FEB. 1.The former Russian President, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, has met his 70th birthday in hospital battling with a flu, but despite retirement and ill health he still wields a strong influence on the Kremlin.

Mr. Yeltsin was hospitalised on Tuesday two days before he turned 70. His spokesman said the former President was having high fever and doctors believed he was suffering from acute viral infection.

Mr. Yeltsin's chosen successor, Mr. Vladimir Putin, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Mikhail Kasyanov, were among the first to congratulate the ex-President at the hospital on Thursday. Russian television showed Mr. Putin presenting Mr. Yeltsin with a large bouquet of flowers and drinking a glass of champaign to his health.

Eversince his surprise resignation on December 31, 1999, in favour of Mr. Putin, Mr. Yeltsin has led a secluded life at his country residence, but he is still believed to have a say in the day-to-day running of the country through his family - a close circle of trusted government officials and businessmen.

Mr. Yeltsin's proteges include the Prime Minister, Mr. Kasyanov, head of the presidential administration, Mr. Alexander Voloshin, and a handful of ministers. One of the family-linked tycoons, Mr. Roman Abramovich, has greatly expanded his business empire over the past year and used his wealth to win a governorship in a resources-rich Siberian province of Chukotka.

There is strong speculation that Mr. Putin promised Mr. Yeltsin not to touch his appointees in the Government for a year and is now drafting a government reform to get rid of most of them. The arrest in New York last month of Mr. Pavel Borodin, former manager of the sprawling Kremlin property, accused by Swiss prosecutors of bribe-taking and money-laundering, is expected to speed up a big government shakeup.

If Mr. Putin decides to purge Mr. Yeltsin's loyalists, public opinion will be on his side. According to an opinion poll released on Wednesday, an overwhelming majority of Russians have a negative view of Mr. Yeltsin's rule. Three-fourths of those polled think that Mr. Yeltsin did Russia more harm than good. Only 15 per cent hold the opposite view.

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