Mayor’s Dismissal One Of Most Provocative Political Developments Since Khodorkovsky’s Arrest
Bloomberg comments that the removal of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov is reinforcing investor confidence in the Russian government's ability to take charge of the economy; benchmark foreign bond yields have tumbled since his dismissal.
Cornel Bruhin, a fund manager with Swiss private bank Clariden Leu AG, said: "Medvedev's showdown with Luzhkov signals a turnaround in investor perceptions toward Russia, which soured amid the 2008 war with neighboring Georgia and the Kremlin's prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky."
The Washington Post adds the President Dmitry Medvedev's actions were aimed at reasserting his power. The publication comments that dismissal is one of the most provocative political developments since Khodorkovsky' arrest in 2003. Prominent Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin commented: "When Khodorkovsky was arrested, the message was you can exist here only if you play by [Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin's rules...Now Medvedev is saying you have to play by Medvedev's rules too."