Kudrin gets his coat

ALEXEI KUDRIN, who was dismissed as Russia’s finance minister on September 26th, often sounded more like an opposition politician than a member of the ruling clan. Two things allowed him to speak up: his professionalism and his close relationship with Vladimir Putin.In the 1990s the two men worked together in St Petersburg. In 1996 Mr Kudrin was catapulted to the Kremlin and helped Mr Putin to move to Moscow. “He is decent and professional,� Mr Putin told journalists in 1999. Mr Kudrin justified this trust. He balanced the budget and channelled oil windfalls into a rainy-day fund, which helped Russia get through the 2008 financial crisis. Mr Putin left Mr Kudrin alone, knowing that his own popularity was dependent on his finance minister’s skills.In 2007 Mr Kudrin showed decency when Sergei Storchak, his deputy, was imprisoned after a power struggle with the security services. Mr Kudrin eventually got him out of jail. But such professionalism was going out of fashion.Earlier this year Mr Kudrin told an economic forum that Russia lives by informal agreements...