Vladimir Putin announces his candidature for next year's presidency

MOSCOW: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced he will run again for the presidency next year, setting up the possibility of becoming the country’s longest- serving leader since Josef Stalin. President Dmitry Medvedev, 46, ended years of speculation on Saturday over whether he would seek a second term by backing Putin’s presidential bid and said he may take over as prime minister.

This would swap their roles almost four years after the then-president picked the younger man, a former corporate lawyer from his hometown of St Petersburg, as his successor upon completing the maximum two consecutive terms allowed by the constitution.

“I want to express my gratitude for your positive response to the proposal that I run for president of Russia , this is a great honor,” Putin, 58, told a congress of his ruling United Russia party in Moscow, receiving a standing ovation as supporters waved white-blue-and-red Russian flags.

Uncertainty over which of Russia’s top two politicians would be a candidate has spurred $31.2 billion in capital flight in the first half of the year. Investors had said they would prefer another Medvedev term to allow him to pursue his policies to reduce the state’s role in the economy and attract foreign investment to ease Russia’s reliance on energy exports.

PUBLIC CRITICISM

In an unprecedented public criticism of Medvedev, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who steered the world’s biggest energy exporter to amass a $200 billion rainy-day fund over political opposition , said late yesterday in Washington that he won’t serve in a Cabinet led by Medvedev because of disagreements over military spending.