February 02, 2007	Friday	Muharram 13, 1428

MOSCOW, Feb 1: President Vladimir Putin pledged on Thursday to give Russian voters a “free democratic choice” in next year's presidential election but urged them to elect a leader who would build on his legacy.

Answering questions at a marathon annual news conference, Putin denied widespread reports he will orchestrate a succession when his second and final term in office ends in March 2008.

“There will be no successor,” Putin told reporters in the Kremlin's Round Hall. “There will be candidates for the post of president...I reserve the right to express my preferences but I will do it only during the election campaign”.

Putin, whose unprecedented popularity makes his support crucial for any candidate to win the poll, said he wanted the next leader to follow in his footsteps.

“We need to form a responsible administration,” Putin said.

“We must be sure this administration ... will consistently adhere to the policy guidelines worked out by the current leadership.”

Looking relaxed and confident, Putin cracked jokes with reporters during three hours 31 minutes of questioning.

He hailed Russia's economic might and struck a notably conciliatory tone in remarks about Russia's former Soviet neighbours Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia, the subjects of recent bitter disputes.

But in remarks likely to concern Europe, which depends heavily on Russian gas imports, Putin for the first time backed the idea of creating an OPEC-style group of gas producers discussed during talks with fellow gas powers Iran and Algeria.

“Gas OPEC is an interesting idea,” Putin said.

MISSILE SHIELD: The Russian president repeated his criticism of US plans for an anti-missile shield based in central Europe to shoot down hostile incoming rockets.

Washington's arguments about needing protection from Iran and from terrorists did not convince him since neither possessed long-range ballistic missiles, he said.

The US plan directly affected Russia and would prompt a “highly effective” response from Moscow. Russia was already testing military technology which would make the missile defence system irrelevant, he said.

CLOSING THE GAP Putin hailed Russia's strong economic growth and said it could not have been achieved without a consolidation of power in the Kremlin's hands.

“Power after the elections should remain consolidated and effective,” he said.

But he added that although Russia's GDP reached $1 trillion last year, the top priority was still to raise living standards.

Russia's rapid and unpredictable transition to capitalism since the collapse of the Soviet Union has seen huge disparities in wealth emerge between billionaire businessmen and dirt-poor peasants eking out an existence in shrinking villages.

Quizzed about the high-profile murders last year of two Kremlin critics, former spy Alexander Litvinenko and journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Putin said he did not believe in conspiracy theories and hoped police would solve both crimes.—Reuters