Russia's Medvedev in "silent war" with hardliners

By Michael Stott

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev faces a "silent war" from hardliners opposed to his liberal reform agenda, said an influential businessman who runs a think-tank advising the president.

Igor Yurgens, chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Development, told Reuters in an interview that Medvedev faced an uphill struggle against rival Kremlin clans to fulfil his manifesto promises to impose the rule of law, fight corruption and increase freedom.

"A silent war is going on and it will go on for some time," said Yurgens, 55, who is also First Vice-President at Moscow investment bank Renaissance Capital.

"If (Medvedev) doesn't build a coalition in this struggle, he will lose, like some of the previous reformers in Russian history," Yurgens said.

"If he manages to build up such a coalition he will win."

Yurgens' view of Medvedev as a relative liberal with his own agenda contradicts some analysts, who portray the president as a clone of his longtime ally, former president Vladimir Putin.

He said Putin had consciously chosen Medvedev to succeed him rather than a hardliner like former defence minister Sergei Ivanov because Putin wanted a more liberal course, having successfully stabilised Russia after the chaos of the 1990s.

Yurgens first met Medvedev in 2000 during Putin's election campaign. In March this year, Medvedev inaugurated the Institute of Contemporary Development as his informal think-tank, saying he wanted "open discussion" about policy.