Russian President Putin has been described as a "black box" by former aid Sergei Pugachev

A Man Who Used To Be The 'Kremlin's Banker' Says Putin Is Completely Winging It

by ELENA HOLODNY

Russian President Vladimir Putin has left his mark in the international community over the past few months, but his motives remain unclear.

There is ongoing debate over whether Putin's moves are part of a larger master plan, or whether he is just acting impulsively day by day.

One former aid who was known as "Kremlin's Banker" firmly believes that the world's "most powerful" person is just winging it.

"Putin is not someone who sets strategic plans; he lives today," Sergei Pugachev said in an interview with Time.

Pugachev was a big player in Moscow until recent years. He founded Mozhprombank (International Industrial Bank) in Moscow in 1992, and within four years was a "Kremlin powerbroker," helping politicians win elections. Things went sour in 2010, and then the Kremlin started aggressively buying up his business.

Pugachev fled to London in 2011.

While Pugachev was a Kremlin favorite, he spent plenty of time with Putin. In fact, he "spoke to him almost every day probably" when Putin was St. Petersburg's mayor and Pugachev served as an adviser.

The former aide believes that Putin didn't have any master plan for his career.

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