MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. The Kremlin believes the lead of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Forbes ranking of the world’s most powerful people is quite understandable. The Kremlin spokesman said, though, that the Russian leader paid little attention to such publications.
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- Half of Russians say toughest days for economy still ahead — poll
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"He [Putin] himself has repeatedly spoken about his attitude to the rankings," said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "He [Putin] said that, if he followed the rankings, he would have neither time nor opportunity to do the real work," Peskov said. "The president’s attitude to the latest ranking is in line with this," he added.
"At the same time, of course, the president’s activity on the world stage remains in high gear, this stems from the regional and international situation, "Peskov said. "In this case, this [lead in the ranking] is quite understandable," he added.
On Wednesday, Forbes published its ranking of the world’s most powerful people. According to Forbes, "Putin emerged as the world’s most powerful person for the third year running."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was ranked second, and US President Barack Obama - third.
In addition to Putin, Russia is represented by President of Rosneft Igor Sechin who was ranked 47th, head of Gazprom Alexei Miller (54th place) and tycoon Alisher Usmanov (67th place).