After four years of oil-fuelled boom, Vladimir Putin's landslide re-election sent stock prices soaring with investors cheering his strong rule, but there are fears that the Russian leader's tsar-like powers could weigh on the economy.
Putin, who stormed to a second term with more than 71 percent of the vote, promised to use his formidable authority and total control of parliament to press ahead with vital economic reforms.
"We must forge ahead with our next steps in the economic and social spheres, and we will do that without fail," he told journalists in the early hours of the morning after his March 14 victory.
Some analysts believe him and forsee a bright future for Russia like that enjoyed by oil producer Malaysia, a one-party state since the late 1950s which until last October was ruled for 22 years by its authoritarian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
"The chaos of the last 10 years is the least desirable, the main thing is stability," commented Elena Romanova, analyst at Raiffeisen bank in Moscow.
"The Kremlin considers a strong state as a prerequisite and motor for a strong economy," she added.
But others are concerned that Putin, a former KGB colonel, and his entourage dominated by former intelligence officers, will shy away from liberalising reforms as the state takes an increasing role in the economy.
The jailing last October of the nation's richest man and billionaire oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who had dared to oppose Putin, sent shivers through the business community.
With the influence unclear of top economic reformers in government, many analysts are doubtful that state-owed Sberbank will lose its dominant role in the financial sector, controlling about 70 percent of the retail banking market.
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