Putin the writer reveals Kremlin's fierce infighting

MOSCOW - In the past year he's painted, sung and demonstrated his expert judo moves.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will complete a clean sweep of the artistic disciplines after turning his hand to writing. His first column for a Russian media outlet will run on Saturday, entitled "Why it's hard to fire people" - a hot topic in Russia where many have lost jobs in the economic squeeze.

While his previous skiing, tiger-shooting and bare-chested fishing expeditions have been propaganda for personal abilities, the article seems to have a more serious point.

Written for a niche monthly magazine, Russian Pioneer, it reads as the first admission by Putin of the scale of infighting that raged in the Kremlin during his eight years as President.

"Conflicts within a team, especially within a big team, always arise," says Putin, in extracts leaked to a Russian news agency. "This happens every minute, every second - simply because between people there are always clashes of interest."

Most analysts believe that during Putin's presidency, a vicious battle was fought for power and influence between liberals and hardliners within and around the Kremlin. This continues today as the relatively liberal President Dmitry Medvedev and his close associates appear to be fighting off challenges from a hardline group of conservative former KGB officers. Putin is sometimes lumped in with the latter group, but many analysts suggest that he actually played a delicate balancing act to stop the two groups from descending into all-out war.

"I can say honestly that while I was President, if I hadn't interfered in certain situations, in Russia there would long ago ceased to have been a government," he says.

The article lays out the "Putin method" of firing, which - on paper at least - sounds surprisingly humane.

"Sometimes from outside it seems like someone should simply be swept aside with a broom. But I can assure you that it's not always like this. You should never bad-mouth someone behind their back, and it's impermissible to fire somebody and toss them aside just because somebody has told you something bad about them."

Putin also claims that he always gives people the right to fight their corner.

"In contrast to previous, Soviet rulers, I always do it personally. I usually call the person into my office, look them in the eye, and say: 'There are concrete complaints. If you think this isn't true, then please, you can fight against it; argue your case'."

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