kudrin

Mr Kudrin said he would make his decision only after consulting the prime minister.

Objecting to a planned spending spree by Mr Medvedev, Mr Kudrin said that he would not serve in his government.

Mr Kudrin's plea to see his deputy and let him out on bail was ignored.

There has been a speculation in the Moscow financial community that Mr. Kudrin was himself a possible candidate for prime minister.

Putin, for his part, recently fired his long term finance minister Alexei Kudrin because he had been compromised by the fascists.

Mr Kudrin had also appeared to harbour hopes of becoming prime minister if Mr Putin became president again.

But Mr Putin has also kept in place his liberal economic team, including Alexei Kudrin, the long-serving finance minister.

In particular, the departure of Mr. Kudrin is seen as a blow to Russia's ability to hold on to some of its oil and gas windfall.

"People should understand: Those who drink, those who smoke are doing more to help the state, " Kudrin said.

Several observers said it would be hard to imagine a scenario under which Mr. Kudrin wouldn't maintain some government role.

Investors in Russia should be worried about the sacking of Alexei Kudrin, the finance minister, by a humiliated president Dmitry Medvedev.

All in all, as Mr Kudrin acknowledges, Russia is only just recovering the standard of living that it enjoyed in 1990.

Mr Kudrin was not the only rebel.

Speaking at the annual State Treasury meeting, Mr. Kudrin said Russia faces a very painful year.

Mr. Medvedev gave Mr. Kudrin until the end of the day to make his decision.

Kremlinologists are confident that the arrest was aimed at Alexei Kudrin, the liberal finance minister, recently elevated by Mr Putin.

Mr. Kudrin played a vital role in shoring up Russia's public finances, which are vulnerable to an oil shock.

Investors should be more concerned by the departure of finance minister Alexei Kudrin.

Mr Kudrin eventually got him out of jail. But such professionalism was going out of fashion.

'Not many countries face such drastic budget revisions, ' Mr. Kudrin said.

Mr Kudrin was in Washington, DC when Mr Putin announced his job swap with Dmitry Medvedev.

But then came Mr. Kudrin's snub, an indication that the leadership swap could create turmoil in the government's senior ranks.

Mr Kudrin and Mr Medvedev, both economic and political liberals, have a fraught relationship.

"We will be using the Reserve Fund if oil profits are less than they are described in the budget, " Mr. Kudrin said.

Mr. Kudrin also warned that Russia's pension fund has a deficit of $31 billion.

Mr. Kudrin resigned later Monday.

Others, such as the liberal finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, disagree.

But the IMF and Mr. Kudrin said many of Russia's financial woes lie closer to home.

According to Kudrin estimates that need to resolve the debt crisis in Europe 2 trillion -3 billion euros.

Russia's Kudrin Signals No Alternative to Dollar