Putin promises democratic succession

President Vladimir Putin pledged yesterday to give Russian voters a "free democratic choice" in next year's presidential election but urged them to elect a leader who would build on his legacy.

Answering questions at a marathon annual news conference, Mr Putin denied widespread reports he will orchestrate a succession when his second and final term in office ends in March next year.

"There will be no successor," Mr Putin told reporters in the Kremlin's Round Hall. "There will be candidates for the post of president... I reserve the right to express my preferences but I will do it only during the election campaign".

"We need to form a responsible administration," Mr Putin said. "We must be sure this administration... will consistently adhere to the policy guidelines worked out by the current leadership."

Against a background of tight Kremlin control on the media and heavy policing of political opposition rallies, Western rights groups continue to question Mr Putin's record on democracy.

Despite his comments yesterday many analysts said it was unimaginable he would be followed into the Kremlin next year by someone he did not wish to see there.

"With an 80 per cent public approval rating and opinion polls showing that voters will likely vote for the person supported by (Mr) Putin, effectively the person he names will be the next president," Christopher Weafer, chief strategist of Alfa bank, wrote.

Looking relaxed and confident, Mr Putin cracked jokes with reporters during three hours 31 minutes of questioning.

He hailed Russia's economic might and struck a notably conciliatory tone in remarks about Russia's former Soviet neighbours Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia, the subjects of recent bitter disputes.

But in remarks likely to concern Europe, which depends heavily on Russian gas imports, Mr Putin for the first time backed the idea of creating an Opec-style group of gas producers discussed during talks with fellow gas powers Iran and Algeria.

"Gas Opec is an interesting idea," Mr Putin said. "We are trying to coordinate our efforts in third country markets. We do not intend to set up a cartel but we will continue to coordinate our activities bearing in mind the key goal of serving the energy security of our customers." The Russian president repeated his criticism of US plans for an anti-missile shield based in central Europe to shoot down hostile incoming rockets.

Washington's arguments about needing protection from Iran and from terrorists did not convince him since neither possessed long-range ballistic missiles, he said.

The US plan directly affected Russia and would prompt a "highly effective" response from Moscow. Russia was already testing military technology which would make the missile defence system irrelevant, he said.

Mr Putin rejected Western criticism that Russia deployed its vast energy resources as a political weapon to reward allies and punish countries failing to toe the Kremlin's line.

Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in January last year and briefly halted oil deliveries to Belarus last month. In both cases this followed rows over Moscow's attempts to reduce energy subsidies to its former Soviet neighbours.

"We are always told that Russia is using its... economic resources to achieve its foreign policy aims. This is not the case," Mr Putin said.